Origins & Research Updates

Scientists identified four genetic autism subtypes—Social & Behavioral Challenges, Mixed ASD with Developmental Delay, Moderate Challenges, Broadly Affected—linking specific genetic patterns to children's traits and improving personalized care.

Free certificates of participation are available upon successful completion of a brief knowledge quiz at https://autism.org/microbiome_dysbiosis_research/Han...

New research supports a paradigm shift from viewing autistic communication through a deficit model to recognizing it as a difference in communication style.

A research team has unveiled the cause and molecular mechanism of chronic brain inflammation that results in repetitive behavioral disorders. The research team demonstrated that an inflammatory response ...

Standard approaches to mental health issues, designed from within a neurotypical framework, may actually cause harm to Autistic people. We need to update our understanding of the wide spectrum of neurodivergence.

Purpose Black families experience additional barriers to accessing autism-related supports compared to White families. Community organizations can help mitigate the negative impact of systemic inequities and lack of support that Black caregivers of autistic family members experience. Little is known about the types of support Black families seek from these organizations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the support needs of Black families raising autistic children as evidenced by communication patterns in a community-based statewide autism organization. Our research questions were: (1) What are the autism-related support needs of Black families raising autistic children; and (2) How do familial demographics influence these support needs? Methods We explored the support needs of Black caregivers of autistic family members by analyzing a subset of 1,460 entries (16.8% of the total communication entries) within a database of communication entries from a community-based autism organization in one southeastern state in the United States. We analyzed the frequency of support request types and the relationships between support requests and familial demographics (i.e., rurality, gender, age). Results We found that Black families most often requested family or individual support, school-related support, and behavioral support. Families requested support with bullying, social services, and health insurance less often. We found significant interactions between the three most requested services and the rurality, gender, and age of the autistic family member. Conclusion We conclude with suggestions for autism support organizations seeking to better meet the needs of Black families.

Carving up the spectrum allows for more targeted research and interventions. But that only works if everyone does it the same way.

Explore the DSM criteria for autism, changes in diagnosis, and challenges faced in understanding ASD.

Discover the DSM 5 autism diagnosis standards, including criteria changes and severity levels for accurate assessment.

Explore dsm 5 tr autism's diagnostic criteria and its significance for effective advocacy.

Discover the essentials of dsm-5-tr autism, including diagnostic criteria, characteristics, and support strategies.

I do psychological evaluations, consults, and therapy with autistic people, because I'm autistic, myself. I thought it might be an idea to discuss further how the DSM criteria differs from the autistic experience. The DSM is problematic in that it's ableist, and vaguely describes autistic traits.

the mind as an interest system

Early screen time was initially linked to autism, but this connection disappeared when accounting for socioeconomic factors, suggesting screen time is not a cause of autism but may indicate families needing additional support.

A new brain imaging study has concluded that autism likely isn't caused by faulty connections to the amygdala.

Prenatal exposure to higher levels of bisphenol A, a plastic commonly found in water bottles and packaging and known to leach into our foods and drinks, has been linked to autism spectrum disorder in boys, according to a new study that also identified the biological mechanism underlying this link.

A meta-analysis of 243 fMRI studies revealed that ADHD and autism have distinct brain activity patterns, with unique neural activations for each disorder outweighing their similarities.

Rew research has found that adults with autism report higher rates of various non-communicable medical conditions compared to those without autism. These increased rates of disorders spanned all major organ systems. The paper was published in Molecular Autism. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder, is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by d...

Boys exposed to bisphenol A more likely to show autism symptoms by age two and six times more likely to be diagnosed with condition by age 11

A study has made a surprising find.

Increased dosage of the Ube3a gene causes sex-specific differences in brain connectivity and behavior in mice, potentially explaining why autism is more prevalent in males.

The findings suggest the levels of certain fatty acid in the umbilical cord blood during pregnancy have an impact on the development of autism spectrum disorder.

According to Autism Speaks, the CDC reported that approximately 1 in 36 children are diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder in the United

In traditional Chinese medicine, no such disease called Autism exists. TCM doctors approach health and disease according to the philosophy of Yin-Yang.

One of the most common forms of brain development disorder today is autism. One out of 166 children has been diagnosed with some form of this autism. Children diagnosed with this disorder are likely to have autoimmune problems and weak immune systems. While allopathic medicine describes autism as a health condition in which a child

Wind the clock back 40 years and autism, at least officially, was a rare condition. According to case rates in the 1980s, only a handful of people in every 10,000 received a diagnosis. The picture today is radically different: better awareness and a broadening of the criteria mean autism is now common: 1% to 3% of people worldwide are now estimated to be on the autism spectrum. History records some horrendous mistakes around the underlying...

A new study has uncovered a link between autism risk and umbilical cord fatty acids.

Molecular Autism is a high visibility open access journal publishing high-quality basic, translational and clinical research relevant to the etiology, ...

The severity of autism symptoms is linked to brain overgrowth during early embryonic development, with larger brain cortical organoids correlating with more severe social and cognitive challenges in children with autism.