Autism Science Foundation Weekly Science Report

Autism Science Foundation Weekly Science Report


Latest Episodes

WEAR A MASK
July 19, 2020

It’s been about 6 months since the COVID-19 pandemic began in the United States, longer in Asia and some parts of Europe. While scientists still don’t know the direct effects of COVID-19 in pregnant women on later development of their children,

What the h**l is an induced pluripotent stem cell?
June 28, 2020

The words “induced pluripotent stem cell” refer to a group of cells that are gathered from a person with a disorder, like autism, then changed or “induced” from a skin cell into an embryonic “stem” cell, and can be then made into baby brain cells,

Pandemic Problems? ASD Researchers are Listening
June 21, 2020

You have spoken, and scientists have listened, to surveys that have asked how you are doing, what your family needs, what is working and what has not worked. Telehealth gets mixed reviews, and kids are suffering from everything from anxiety to OCD.

Autistic Black Lives Matter
June 14, 2020

Racial and ethnic disparities in autism care is not new, the lower age of diagnosis and lack of care for these families have been reported for years. While they have always been unacceptable, in light of recent events,

Sex differences: It’s not about the diagnostic measurements.
June 07, 2020

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,

Families work hard for treatments
June 01, 2020

Unfortunately, families hear more about what does work to help families with ASD rather than what does not work. But through the course of decades of research, scientific projects and hours of families participation,

Autistic Adults Advise and Advance Research
May 18, 2020

Have you ever heard of an initiative called “Autistic Adults and other Stakeholders Engaged Together”? If you have, you know their goal is to ensure that autistic perspectives are included in future scientific research.

Age of parents and ASD. It’s complicated.
May 11, 2020

Questions have loomed around the finding of an increased risk of parents having a child with ASD if they are under 20 or over 35. Of course not every parent who is really young or older will have a child on the spectrum and plenty of those between thos...

More ASD links with hormones that are not well-known but are now shown
May 03, 2020

Oxytocin treatment for social communication in ASD has been recntlyused by doctors, but mostly used by people using it on their own through a nasal spray. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a huge, if any, effect in randomized clinical trials.

A special episode on the Autism Dad podcast
April 27, 2020

On this week’s podcast, CSO Alycia Halladay appears on the Autism Dad Podcast, hosted by Rob Gorski. While we have included the full podcast here, you should also go over to the Autism Dad podcast – he’s smart, funny and has 3 adorable boys with ASD.