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Catching up with CANDID

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In part 2 of the GI series in ASD, a new paper in the Journal of Nutrition and Gastroenterology describing the www.candidgi.com meeting is described. While sometimes doctors may be know-it-alls, sometimes they do not know-it-all and need experts to advise them, especially when they encounter individuals who may be hard to diagnose and treat. Those with intellectual disability and who are non-speaking may pose specific challenges in diagnosing medical issues, including GI problems. This podcast describes the symptoms that may be obvious, some that are not so obvious, and what GI doctors need to do to help these families.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37323113

www.candidgi.com

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Autism Self-Diagnosis Tools

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Autistic individuals are turning to self-diagnosis to explain their autism features, sometimes based on better awareness, sometimes based on what they see on social media. But how accurate are these autism diagnostic tools? They range anywhere from tik-tok videos all the way to a tool called the RAADS-R which has been described as a valid diagnostic measure. Unfortunately, as discussed by scientist Alexandra Sturm who looked closely at what this tool measures, it’s probably not a true diagnostic measure. However, diagnosis for adults is hard to obtain, Dr. Sturm provides suggestions on what to do if you are curious about an autism diagnosis and don’t know where to turn.

The RAADS can be found here: https://embrace-autism.com/raads-r/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09515089.2024.2327823

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38305196/

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A message for MLK’s birthday and a better way diagnose anxiety

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Happy MLK day – a day when we recognize a man for his contribution in justice, tolerance, equality and service, I highlight a supreme court case which affects how those with special needs are fighting for justice and equality.   Also, over the holidays, Dr. Connor Kerns from Drexel University published how a new tool to diagnose anxiety in those with autism was validated, setting the stage for its use by physicians and clinicians who don’t have a lot of experience with autism to help better understand the symptoms of their patients.

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Intervention studies are about to get better

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Studies looking at interventions in autism have been plagued with issues of what treatments will work best in what people, and use of instruments to detect change that were never designed for use in people with autism. Recently, a new instrument was developed to look at improvements in social – communication in autism. This the first of it’s kind and will lead to better interventions to help people with ASD. Also, new research is using biological markers of autism to look at the effectiveness of interventions. The findings are still early, but promising and will help find out what types of treatment are best in which people.