Autism Science Foundation Weekly Science Report

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. They recently published an article that summarized the research that autistic people feel is critical, and what is missing, and what needs to be done. They concluded most of the research done so far is applicable to males without intellectual disability. That needs to change. Speaking of adults, how many adults are autistic? Is it 5 million? Maybe, maybe not, but it is still unclear even after a recent publication. Listen to hear more.

To learn more about AASET click here

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32390461

https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s10803-020-04494-4.pdf

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 those ages also have children on the spectrum. Risk factors for ASD are not absolute, they are nuanced and work with other genetic and environmental factors. This week, Kristin Lyall from the AJ Drexel Autism Institute found that those with a strong genetic influence were not as sensitive to factors like parental age. This goes to show, yet again, that it isn’t about ONE risk factor, it’s about dozens working together. And for those 30 year old parents who had a child with autism – see, not every research finding applies to you directly.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32314879

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4521130/

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. This week’s podcast investigates current research in both the oxytocin and vasopressin system in ASD, when changes start, and how oxytocin administration has different effects in autistic women vs. neurotypical women. Once again, clinicians can not assume that what works in people without ASD will work in those with a diagnosis.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32341146

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32188502

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. Rob talks openly and honestly about not just scientific issues, but everyday challenges and successes that is inspirational for families across the spectrum. You can find him on the regular podcast streams or here: https://www.theautismdad.com/listen/

Times have changed. Once, parents of a child with autism were concerned about autism in younger siblings. Now those parents are grandparents, and worried about autism in their children’s children. Siblings of autistic adults are considering having children of their own and wondering what they should be prepared for when they have kids of their own. This week, Natasha Marrus from Washington University School of Medicine talks about her new study looking at the increase in probability of ASD in infants who have an aunt or an uncle with ASD. The results are not surprising, but they do have implications for actionable steps.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322320313846?via%3Dihub

Resilience is the quality that allows people to recover from severe trauma or other adverse events with their mental health somewhat intact. For many families, this international public health emergency is a traumatic event and coming out of this is going to require a lot of skills and training. Most of us have never experienced anything like this before and families with autism have additional burdens to deal with. We will be hosting a webinar about it on April 22nd with experts in the field, but in the meantime, this is a list of tips from licensed psychologists in the field.

Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) pairs specialist centers with community providers to help them manage cases and empower them with knowledge to help their patients locally. It is done over the computer, which is especially relevant today. The goal is to help clinicians and physicians manage patients when local expertise is not available. Micah Mazurek of University of Virginia recently published a randomized study about the efficacy of this program, and is a special guest on the podcast to explain what it is and how it can be used to help doctors help each other and their families.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/article-abstract/2762007

On Thursday the 26th, the Centers for Disease Control released new prevalence numbers: the prevalence of ASD has jumped from 1 in 59 to 1 in 54 kids who are 8. They also revealed prevalence numbers in 4 year olds. On this week’s podcast. CDC epidemiologist Dr. Matthew Maenner (and ASF class of 2010 predoctoral fellow) explains the numbers, where they came from, what they mean and where the trend in prevalence numbers is going. Shockingly, even though the numbers keep going up, some people are not getting an autism diagnosis when they should.

https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/ss/ss6904a1.htm

https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/addm-community-report/index.html

This week’s podcast is focused on a topic many of you may be learning about now: Telehealth. This is remote delivery of care through the telephone or a video chat. If your healthcare appointment has not been cancelled, it’s been moved to Telehealth. If you need to talk to a doctor, it will probably be done through Telehealth. So what is it? Is it helpful? Is there enough right now to say? This podcast covers all of these things for families to get a better handle of what they are getting themselves into.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31969108

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30155578

These are extraordinary times. We all need to lean into each other and help each other out during this emergency. Today’s podcast is a list of good advice and ideas that we have pulled from various sources, as well as scientifically valid ways of alleviating extra anxiety because of the current situation. It isn’t meant to solve all your problems, but maybe it can solve part of one. The National Council on Severe Autism will also be hosting a “share and care” that hopefully will allow everyone to share what they are doing that works, and ask from others how they are handling the situation. You can register here: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/5189740368572667405