11 November 2016: Heading to San Diego The 46th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) kicks off tomorrow morning in San Diego, California. With an expected 30,000-plus attendees and about half as many presentations, SfN is the largest neuroscience meeting in the world. The Spectrum te…

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Children conceived during winter months are more likely to have autism and other developmental conditions than those conceived in summer, according to a study of 800,000 school-age children in Scotland1. The study, published in the September issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology, suggests th…

Here’s the truth about having a sibling with autism. When we were younger, I tried so hard to reach out to my brother, but he seemed to reject me. I would try to play with him, and he would either push me away or run away. It was frustrating. I knew my brother had a disability, but I didn’t re…

The post What grandmothers can teach scientists about autism’s inheritance appeared first on Spectrum. Source: Spectrum News

A video game that involves reacting to fish of a particular color can help researchers spot subtle attention problems in children with certain conditions1. Traditional cognitive tests involve answering questions or doing repetitive tasks that tap decision-making, reasoning and focus, among other cha…

Words matter, and the debate over whether people on the spectrum are "autistic" or "have autism" has been hot for years. Both sides have compelling arguments.Source: The Autism Site

What now?In the aftermath of this election there is some celebration but for others there is tremendous angst, fear, and unrest. The election map shows what a bubble those of us in the northeast and west coasts live in relative to the rest of the country. I saw that clearly last week, when I spoke i…

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has more than 700 job vacancies in its division that approves new drugs, and top officials say the agency is struggling to hire and retain staff because pharmaceutical companies lure them away. “They can pay them roughly twice as much as we can,” Janet Woo…

A laboratory mouse has a modest home: a small, smelly cage lined with soft bedding, which it shares with up to four other animals. But it is home nonetheless — a place of comfort. That is, until the massive hand of a researcher reaches in to pluck it out for an experiment. The experiment might gauge…

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By Megan Amodeo When we first set eyes on our tiny little bundles, boy or girl, we have visions of great athletes, scientists and presidential aspirations. The reality is, our children become who they become. We parents can only do so much to shape our children but ultimately, they becomes their own…

A new set of guidelines aims to help clinicians recognize and treat gender dysphoria in adolescents with autism1. The guidelines, released 24 October, recommend that teenagers seeking treatment at gender clinics be screened for autism, and that those with autism be assessed for gender concerns. Auti…

I think we’ve developed a ‘patchwork’ sort of world in relation to Autism. By Jeanette Purkis I’ve been a diagnosed Autistic person for more than half my life. Here are some observations of where we were, where we are now and where we might be headed in terms of respect and Neurodiversity and other…