Increasingly researchers are conducting studies looking at mental health among Autistic people. Recent findings have suggested that Autistic adults are more likely to experience several mental health conditions than non-autistic adults. Many Autistic self-advocates are speaking up about their experiences and encouraging researchers to do more work in this field.
Read more “Mental Health of Autistic Adults”
Camouflaging, masking, blending in, compensating, impression management; we all do this to an extent. Imagine you’re invited to a work dinner with your colleagues. You get ready, thinking about what’s appropriate to wear, what to bring, and some topics to bring up (and avoid) if there are lulls in conversation. In Autism, the stakes are higher, and the task is more difficult. When social skills do not come intuitively, getting through this event requires cognitive effort, concentration and learning, a bit like doing complex algebra on the fly.
Read more “Masking, Camouflaging & Compensating in Autism”
You might have heard that for every female diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (Autism) there are roughly three to four males (Fombonne, 2009; Loomes et al., 2017).
But this ratio changes when you consider the person’s language, cognitive abilities, and even their age.
Read more “Autism in Girls and Women”
The idea of neurodiversity is not new but has been gaining more attention recently. The essence of the term ‘neurodiversity’ is that “there is no single way for a brain to be normal,” as explained in a recently-published editorial by Simon Baron-Cohen, head of the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge (see here & here). Looking at autism from a neurodiversity perspective can help promote inclusion and reduce stigma. It means broadening our understanding to see how social systems can change to be more autism friendly, rather than focusing narrowly on the individual. Supermarket ‘quiet hours’ are a nice example of an environmental change that can have a positive impact for people on the Autism spectrum.
Read more “Neurodiversity and Participatory Research in Autism”
A very good starting point for comparing different supports is the Raising Children Network’s ‘Parent Guide to Therapies‘ which provides a description of the most commonly used supports in Australia, as well as a rating for research evidence, time commitment required, and cost. Research Autism, based in the UK, provides a similar service and is also well worth a look.
Even when we consider only those interventions for which there is good research evidence, we find that there is currently no single best support program which works equally well for all Autistic children. This is no doubt due in large part to the fact that the individual skills and needs of each child, and his or her family, are unique.
Dr David Trembath
Published July 2019
Read more “What is the best evidence-based support for Autistic children in relation to communication skills?”
Can the Measles, Mumps and Rubella (MMR) vaccine cause Autism?
It has been shown that the evidence for the causal link between MMR vaccine and Autism was weak at best, and incorrect at worst. Andrew Wakefield, who published this evidence has been exposed as fabricating his data. For a really quick overview and lots of extra reading on this go to his Wikipedia page.
Parental doubt and confusion is caused by the fact that first symptoms (if not diagnosis) are often observed at the time of, or shortly after, the vaccination, so there is a temporal link but not a causal link between vaccination and observation of first symptoms. Current research indicates some brain differences as early as six months in children who are not yet showing signs of autism but go on to do so in the second year of life.
By Dr Elfriede Ihsen
Published July 2019
We are aware of just one study by by Libbey, J., Sweeten, T., & Fujinami, R. (2005, PDF 93.6 KB) has summarised the evidence for a causal link between prenatal maternal Rubella and Autism.
Read more “Is there a link between Rubella and Autism?”
This is a very difficult question to answer, because there are different causes for Autism and Aspergers, with some of these conditions being highly heritable and others are not.
Read more “Can I pass Aspergers on to my children?”
This is one theory among many others put forward to explain the enigma that is Autism.
Some Autistic children appear susceptible to gastrointestinal (GI) conditions. However, this research is in the early stages, with the findings to date providing no evidence that gut bacteria and their by-products cause Autism, even a subgroup of them, or that treating the gut can alleviate the specific symptoms of Autism.
Read more “Is Autism caused by gut bacteria, as suggested by ‘gut theory’?”
Read more “Echolalia and Autism”Does echolalia always indicate Autism, even when functional and age appropriate speech is present?