Hello, and welcome to this week’s Community Newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. We’ve got some great tweets for you this week, so let’s dive in. Our first thread comes from Robert McCutcheon, clinical research fellow in psychiatry at King’s College London in t…

A new method uses DNA mutations to maintain a detailed record of series of cellular events1. The system, called DNA-based Ordered Memory and Iteration Network Operator (DOMINO), could also enable researchers to study cell signaling, control the sequence and timing of gene expression in cells, and tr…

By Nils Skudra As a Civil War historian, I have always been fascinated by the various personalities on both sides that played a pivotal role in shaping the course of the conflict. One of the most enigmatic of these figures is Jefferson Davis, who served as the Confederacy’s president throughout the …

Black children with autism who are hospitalized for psychiatric problems are more impaired than their white peers, according to a new study1. Socioeconomic factors may explain this difference, experts say. Previous research has shown that autistic black children are more likely to be hospitalized fo…

Autistic people’s skill at managing the demands of daily life starts to decline after they leave high school, according to a new study. But those who maintain more abilities relative to their peers are more likely to pursue further education. Daily living skills — the ability to take care of indepen…

Business: SMILE Biscotti, LLC Mission: Skills development, social connections and pathways toward greater independence What is SMILE? SMILE (Supporting My Independent Living Enterprise) trains, employs and supports adults on the autism spectrum in an effort to further their growth, happiness and in…

By Brad WindI have a challenge for you. Dear audiences who affirm interactive story spaces, I have a gift for you. I have a cool new framework for writer artificial intelligence (AI). I want you to sign up and play with it. I can guarantee just about anyone reading this on The Art of Autism will a…

Earlier this month, researchers reported unpublished preliminary findings from a pilot drug trial for ADNP syndrome, a rare genetic condition often accompanied by autism. During the nearly year-long trial, 10 children with the condition, aged 6 to 12, took a low dose of ketamine. The drug is approve…

What? College classes start this week. This summer just sped by! We were all so happy to be at least partially out of COVID confinement that we crammed as much fun and adventure as we could into this summer. We surfed, kayaked, went whitewater rafting, enjoyed playing in the parks and hiking through…

Roughly 7 percent of children with autism eventually lose their diagnosis, swapping social problems and language difficulties for more typical skills and behaviors. But it is unclear whether this transition is associated with a return to typical brain function or reflects a compensatory process. New…

This isn't just another story about someone doing something nice. It's much bigger than that.Source: The Autism Site

The U.S. Congress finally seems ready to take action on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) after funding lapsed on 30 September. Before the deadline, lawmakers were busy grappling with the failed repeal of the Affordable Care Act. CHIP covers 9 million children in the United States. But…

It’s been five years since the autism community agonized over the debut of a new iteration of a diagnostic manual that set out to rewrite the definition of autism. In this special report, we revisit the concerns and controversy over the fifth edition of the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Ment…

Two drugs that alter the activity of the hormone vasopressin seem to improve social communication in people with autism. The findings come from two independent clinical trials published today in Science Translational Medicine1,2. The results are encouraging, but some experts urge caution, saying the…