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Sex differences: It’s not about the diagnostic measurements.

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A fresh take on an existing topic: why there are more boys diagnosed with ASD than girls. Even from a few months old, girls are different than boys, and they show subtle differences in toddlerhood. But at the time of diagnosis, they score the same on standardized instruments of ASD used to categorize someone as having ASD or not. This means it isn’t about the measures. It could be cultural factors, it could be a protective effect, but there needs to be a better understanding of these differences across the lifespan to help everyone with ASD, especially females.

https://www.cell.com/current-biology/retrieve/pii/S096098222030419X?_returnURL=https%3A%2F%2Flinkinghub.elsevier.com%2Fretrieve%2Fpii%2FS096098222030419X%3Fshowall%3Dtrue

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04526-z

https://doi.org/10.1111/jcpp.13242

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A year of autism research in under 30 minutes

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What was impactful this year in autism research? This last podcast of 2015 explores the year of the female, highlighting the relatively new exploration into what makes females with ASD different and what they can tell us about everybody with autism and their families.  Some of what is discussed was highlighted in other podcasts, but not all of it.   The summary is organized so that what may initially be interpreted as small, nonsignificant discoveries, are viewed as progress.  Everything from genetics to getting laws passed is included.

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Managing real life autism situations.

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Compared to researchers, community clinicians don’t have time for the same rigorous training on the standard autism diagnostic instrument called the ADOS, so can they still do it as well?  Or does this group not have the resources they need to use it properly?  Also, because psychiatric hospitals don’t see as many people with autism as they used to, a group of child psychiatrists got together and wrote guidelines for what to do if a child with autism showed up at the general inpatient ward.  These are things that face families in the real word, and we thought you should hear about new science around them.