In a highly discussed paper, researchers from Drexel University report their findings on a scientific and methodologically rigorous study on the accuracy of information posted on the social media platform Tik-Tok. They also discuss where the information comes from and how it is viewed. The accurate and inaccurate posts get “liked” equally, meaning they are taken just as seriously. There are billions of inaccurate posts being viewed, and misinformation spread. On this week’s podcast, all four authors of this paper summarize what they found and what families should know.
Podcast: Tik-Tok for autism information? Nope
This week’s podcast covers two new papers of interest to the autism community. First, another study showing increase in self harm and suicide in those with autism – no new news there – but a new discovery this week showed a vulnerability of females with a diagnosis. The study also explores the lower rate of suicide in those with IDD but higher rate of self harm in this same group. Second, the mystery of autism genetics is slowly unveiled. Why is rare variation so influential in an autism diagnosis? As it turns out those with rare variation also have common variation, piling on the genetic liability in this group. Common variation is also uniquely linked to language delay in autism, so is this a core feature? Links below are the scientific articles as well as resources to support those dealing with mental health problems in the autistic community.
Mental health links:
https://vkc.vumc.org/assets/files/resources/mental-health-toolkit.pdf
https://www.camh.ca/-/media/files/cundill-centre/depression-and-autism-full-pdf.pdf
https://www.azrieli-anc.com/autism-mental-healthhttps://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/topics/mental-health/suicide#How%20do%20I%20get%20help%20and%20support
Articles:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2808056
Genetics study is OPEN ACCESS: https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2215632120?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed
On this week’s ASF podcast: there are dozens of good reasons why scientists need to study the brains of people with autism. One is to understand what happens in the brain as people with autism get older and see how the brain changes over time. Another is to identify mechanisms of autism to help all neuroscientists figure out how the brain works. A third is improve medicine by determining what helps what people at what age. Scientists @UCDavis, @Penn and @UCLA examined the individual brain cells of people with autism to address these three questions, revealing that the autistic brain shows some similarities to brains of people with Alzheimer’s Disease. In addition, inflammation seen in the brain may be caused by too much activity of cells talking to each other. Studying the brains of people with autism is essential to better understanding and is made possible by families who are committed to research.
This week’s ASF podcast returns with a special guest: Dr. Andrew Whitehouse from the University of Western Australia talks about a new unifying theory of the spectrum of autism symptoms and features. It’s called “emergent and transactional”, and while the original author was Dr. Jonathan Green from the UK, Dr. Whitehouse wrote a clear explanation of what it means. He also provides his perspective on the broad spectrum of experiences, feelings and priorities in the autism community and how this new theory might bring together at least some of the views. We also discuss how courage and humility are needed by the entire community to reduce the vitriol.
This week’s podcast explores new evidence that exercise produces longer term improvements in coordination and motor skills. Parents can play a big role in how these skills are developed over time. Physical exercise also has different effects on the brain in typically developing people than those with a diagnosis.
Two recent papers suggest that a childhood diagnosis of ASD is important for adulthood quality of life and well being. But another one points out that it isn’t the only thing, or even the primary factor, involved in improved quality of life and well-being as autistic adults age. There are others, like comorbid mental health problems, demographic factors like gender and current age. These studies were conducted by autistic researchers and did an amazing thing – one tried to replicate the other. The media got the point of these findings wrong (shocker) so today’s #ASFpodcast explains what they mean.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/13623613231173056
The disparity in diagnosis between Black kids and white kids is narrowing, but not by luck or coincidence. Based on previous research, clinicians are altering their professional training and their outreach to make sure more Black families are diagnosed and receive interventions. On today’s podcast, we highlight a recent study that focused on different ways to lower the age of diagnosis and improve access to early intervention in Black families. This intervention improved cognitive outcomes in Black kids.
Compared to other types of research, there are so few studies that look at three time points in the same person with autism over their lifetime to better understand groups and predict outcomes. What is missing? What do families need? What’s there and what could be done differently to get at the answers that will help families? On this week’s podcast, we talk to @StevenGentles from McMaster University who led a review of this research and what it will add to the science. You can read the article open access here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13623613231170280?rfr_dat=cr_pub++0pubmed&url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori%3Arid%3Acrossref.org
Digital therapeutics may very helpful in helping families and individuals on the spectrum. What are they? How can they be used? This week’s #ASFpodcast talks to Lani Hessen from the Digital Therapeutics Alliance who is holding a summit this week in Washington DC. There is technology that is already used to help those on the spectrum, and those that can be easily adapted or implemented in those with a diagnosis or their families. We want to hear about YOUR experience with digital technologies. Tell us more in the comments.
With just a few weeks to go until June, this week’s podcast is a short summary of the prevalence of transsexuality in the autism community and how many people are autistic in the trans community. More importantly, there are guidelines about the identification and care for those who have these co-occurring conditions. The references mentioned are below:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36996732/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36721890/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36358354/
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15374416.2016.1228462
https://4w.pub/autism-puberty-gender-dysphoria-view-from-an-autistic-desisted-woman/amp/
Last week in Stockholm, Sweden, 2200 researchers and scientists working to understand and help those on the spectrum, met to share their most recent findings and exchange ideas. What were the main takeaways as ASF saw them? In our latest podcast episode, we cover why some autistic people don’t want genetics to be studied, how to better engage families with IDD and who are non-speaking, females, adults, international studies and yes, diversity. The program book was released a day before the meeting and can be found here: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.autism-insar.org/resource/resmgr/docs/annualmeeting/insar2023_program_book.pdf
The title gets you, right? Well, on this week’s podcast we report on a new study that examines epigenetic profiles of sperm and how they related to child outcomes. Do some of the marks on bio-dad’s sperm match to those found in kids with ASD? what about genes related to autism? Also, can parents be good proxies of their child’s intellectual ability? For the most part yes, but sometimes they tend to overestimate this ability. This means they are good, but not perfect reporters. How could they be if the child has a severe intellectual disability?