Contextual factors, or external factors, are environmental influences and can impact not just a diagnosis but the life course of a person with autism and their families. A recent commentary by autism researchers around the world highlights the importance of these factors and provides resources on how they can be collected in a rigorous, but accessible, way. On this episode, Dr. Marsha Mailick, lead author of the commentary, discusses the definition of contextual factors, why they are important, and how they can influence development. Read the commentary – open access – here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/aur.3312
Podcast: Contextual Factors in Autism: What took us so long?
Today’s #ASFpodcast explains the potential and the unknowns behind folate, known as leucovorin when prescribe, for treating autism. CBSNews reported on a “miraculous” study using leucovorin that will need further research before it lives up to the type. However, it is an example of how different biological markers may direct what treatments work best in what people, and possibly an example of precision medicine in ASD. Second, more of the mystery of the male/female diagnosis difference in ASD. How do genetics affect liability in males and females? It’s been well established females have more of a certain type of genetic variation, but females are less likely to be diagnosis. New results show that the liability for autism is the same in males and females (both are just as likely to receive a diagnosis based on their genetics), however these two sexes may have a different threshold for an autism diagnosis. Females may need more of these mutations to receive an autism diagnosis. Read more below:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00431-024-05762-6
The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of decisions involving government funding for research and health and wellness services. It’s been difficult to understand their impact without understanding the process in which science is evaluated for funding and policies around support of universities where the research takes place. In this podcast, we will clarify what environmental factors are associated with autism (not vaccines), summarize how grants are reviewed and what effect stopping them will have, and explain new rules around how much money research institutions receive in order to support that research, those “indirect costs” and what cutting them will mean for Research Institutions.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39891002
https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-25-068.html
Click to access actinghhssecretarymemoaction2212025-1737591296147.pdf
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Elaine Clarke from @RutgersU discusses the role of adaptive behavior. This refers to the wide range of skills that a person with autism can exhibit. Can they hold a conversation? Dress themselves? Prepare a meal? These sets of skills are strongly influenced by cognitive ability. Dr. Clarke will talk about the link between cognitive ability and adaptive behaviors and while there may be differences in the abilities across the spectrum, it means clinicians and families need to aim for what works best for their individual child. Read more below:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38317766
Two therapies that are meant to alter brainwave activity, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation are receiving a lot of attention for potential efficacy in treating autism. They are non-invasive, which means treatment is provided on the scalp. While results vary, the overall evidence does not support these two interventions in helping to treat core autism features. However, as TMS is approved for depression and OCD, people should ask their doctors about these potential treatments if they suffer from these conditions. Learn more in this week’s episode and in the articles below:
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00787-024-02635-z
Click to access nihms-1934887.pdf
https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article-abstract/34/13/8/7661139?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false
It happens every year – this one belonged in the 2024 year end highlights but was published late in the year. Researchers at UCSD, UCLA and CHLA followed families with autism whose genetic test revealed a rare variant. Did it make a difference in care? Understanding? Referrals? Listen to this week’s podcast episode to learn all about it. If you are in need of a genetic test, here are some things to know: https://www.alliancegenda.org/genetic-testing
Reference here: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1098360024002673
While it may not seem like it, the COVID-19 pandemic brought some advances in care and understanding for people on the spectrum. One example is the development and validity of remotely administered assessments that families can participate in from home rather than travel to a clinic. These tools were built out of necessity, and are evolving into a set of tools that can be used to build better outcome measures for clinical trials. This round focused on those with autism and a rare genetic variant or “neurogenetic syndromes” since these individuals have a known biological etiology of autism. However, they may be further improved to be utilized across the autism spectrum. Listen to this week’s podcast episode to learn more.
In this week’s episode, special podcast correspondent #MiaKotikovski summarizes new research on the increasing prevalence of autism, with a focus on females. While the number of diagnosed females is increasing faster than the number for males, females assigned at birth still are less likely to receive a diagnosis than males. Additional evidence points to females having more genetic mutations and lower cognitive ability, so the questions remain: Are there females with autism who are just not getting diagnosed despite having all the autism features? Why not? Does autism in females “look” the same as autism in males? What sets them apart? These articles are all featured in the year-end highlight of research, so this is the time to get a deep explanation of the latest in sex differences in #autism.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34563942
Are you the grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling, or half-sibling of someone with autism and wondered “what is the likelihood of autism in families, and the likelihood of comorbid conditions if I have a family member with autism?” Listen to this week’s podcast. Researchers at the AJ Drexel Autism Research Institute and Aarhus University in Denmark collaborated to calculate probabilities between autism in a person and dozens of other comorbid conditions in family members. They not only made the paper open to the public for everyone to read it, but they also created a publicly available data visualization tool so anyone can go on and look at specific situations of particular family relationships relating to anything from autoimmune conditions to mental health and psychiatric diagnosis. Links below for reference:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39283002
Interactive graphs: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/diana.schendel/viz/ASDPlots_16918786403110/e-Figure5
Despite many years fighting it, families with autism still experience societal stigma. The experiences depend on many factors, summarized in the October 21st podcast. This week, Mia Kotikovski explores cultural factors involved in stigma. As examples, she explores the literature from Asia, the Middle East and the United Kingdom, how they are different, and how families cope with that stigma in different areas of the world.
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40489-023-00373-7
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9330163
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-019-04218-3
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-022-23978-0
https://molecularautism.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13229-023-00579-w
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0261774
Animal models of autism, including cell based models, have received criticism because autism is a uniquely human condition so there is no value in studying it in a model like a mouse or a cell. On the other hand, model systems have been used for decades to develop therapies for a myraid of other conditions and disorders, and produced evidence-based treatments for not just autism but conditions from ADHD to schizophrenia. So why is there so much backlash about this line of research? The ASF podcast talks to Jill Silverman at UC Davis to get some perspective.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35285132
https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/377739/autism-research-mice-lab-models
In this week’s podcast episode, part 1 in cultural stigma around autism with Mia Kotikovski provides an overview of stigma, where it can come from across cultures and provides some examples of stigma in different countries. Different areas of the world are in different places in terms of their perceptions of autism, their needs for autism families, and what they perceive as their greatest difficulties. The topic is so important we broke it down into two sections. Please listen to both, it will explain a lot about autism services and supports around the world.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361318823550
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8992913
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11303671
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11303671
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30248583