Not everyone referred for an autism assessment will 'meet diagnostic criteria'

I want to introduce the findings reported by Isaac Smith and colleagues [1] to you today, and some important points related to the assessme...

anxietyassessmentautismcomorbiditydiagnosisself-diagnosis

Pre-pregnancy weight and risk of offspring ADHD

" Compared to normal weight mothers, the risk of having a child with ADHD  [ attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ]  was significan...

ADHDautismbody mass index (BMI)maternalobesityparentsriskweight

Placental inflammation and autism?

The placenta . Quite an important part of the nine months that makes us; an organ exquisitely evolved to provide oxygen and nutrition to the...

autismbirthinflammationmaternal immune activation (MIA)placentarisk

'Somali autism': a phenotype?

" Results lend support to previous studies that found higher rates of ASD  [autism spectrum disorder]   intellectual disability in chi...

autismethnicitygeneticsintellectual disability (ID)riskSomalivitamin d

Open label study of probiotics and autism

" We concluded that probiotics have beneficial effects on both behavioral and GI [gastrointestinal]  manifestations of ASD  [autism sp...

autismAutism Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC)bowelclinical trialgastrointestinalgut-brain axisirritable bowel syndromeprobiotics

On DSM-5, Asperger syndrome and 'level of support'

It wasn't so much the findings reported by Garrido and colleagues [1] that took my attention, but rather their use of a particular sent...

autismdiagnosisDSM Vsocial communication disorder (SCD)support

"medical disorders in children with ASD and ADHD appear to be widespread"

The quote titling this brief post is taken from the results of the systematic review undertaken by Jet Muskens and colleagues [1] (open-acc...

ADHDautismbowelcomorbidityESSENCEhealthimmune systemmanagementmedicalriskscreening

Antidepressants during pregnancy and autism in offspring (with care)

There are a few topic areas in the quite vast autism research landscape that consistently seem to keep cropping up. The possibility of some ...

ADHDantidepressantautismmaternalpregnancypsychiatryrisk

Anxiety disorder is rife in 'high-functioning' autism

" Lifetime prevalence rates of 53.5% for depressive disorder 73.5% for anxiety disorders and 37.5% for ADHD  [ attention-deficit hype...

ADHDanxietyautismcomorbiditydepressioneducationemploymentmanagementpsychiatryriskscreening

Second seizure risk and "idiopathic autism"

Idiopathic autism refers to instances where autism is the primary diagnosis and not something secondary to another - usually genetic - condi...

autismepilepsymanagementrecurrenceriskseizure disorder

Should anyone be concerned about pathological video game use in relation to autism?

"...  the risk for pathological game use appears larger in adults with ASD  [autism spectrum disorder]  compared with TD  [typically de...

autismexerciseexergamingphysical activitysedentary behaviourvideogaming

Analysing police involvement in the context of autism

" About 1 in 6 people with autism interacted with police over 18 months " went one of the media headlines covering the study publi...

aggressionautismawarenessexperienceintellectual disability (ID)law enforcementpolicetraining

Rare genetic condition manifesting as autism and its management

" We report the case of a young boy with nonverbal autism and intellectual disability , with a rare de novo 1q21.3 microdeletion. ...

autismcase studycaseinde novoDieteyesgastrointestinalgeneticsnaltrexoneregressionself injurious behaviour (SIB)

Self-reported sexual attraction and autism continued

" Attention to gender identity and sexual diversity in education and clinical work with people with ASD  [autism spectrum disorder]  is...

autismdiagnosisrelationshipsself reportsex educationsexual orientation

On preventing the deleterious effects of CMV: implications for some autism?

" Anxiety drug may prevent common virus that causes birth defects " went one of the headlines covering t he study results publishe...

antiviralautismcytomegalovirus (CMV)infectionintellectual disability (ID)mouseprenatalviral

Another double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of vitamin D in autism. But...

The findings reported by Conor Kerley and colleagues [1] continue a theme in autism research circles of ' one study reporting one thing...

autismbehaviourclinical trialgeneticsplaceboresponderssupplementationvitamin d

1 in 8 kids diagnosed with ADHD also diagnosed with autism

" Approximately one in eight children currently diagnosed with ADHD  [ attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder ]  was also diagnosed w...

ADHDassessmentautismcomorbidityESSENCEpsychiatryscreening

Caring for the carers continued

Consider this post a brief extension to a previous one talking about how greater efforts need to be put into supporting those raising and ca...

adaptive behaviourautismchallenging behavioursfamilyparentspresentationquality of liferespiteseveritysiblings