Mice with either too much or too little MeCP2, the gene mutated in Rett syndrome, show similar malfunctions in a learning and memory brain circuit, according to a new study1. The findings may help explain why people with Rett syndrome and those with MeCP2 duplication syndrome share common features. …

“We have nothing to fear but fear itself.” –Franklin D. Roosevelt. By Lamar Hardwick Fear is a funny thing. It is not easily defined. Fear can present itself in different ways for different people. Fear is universal, but fear isn’t uniform. Perhaps that’s why it is so difficult to get a grasp on how…

“I have always been fascinated by art and began creating my own a few years ago after visiting Barcelona and seeing the works of Antonio Gaudí. This love has led me to my current career path,” Robbie IeRubino An interview with artist Robbie IeRubino who shares some of his art. Q. How ol…

We first interviewed autistic author Elizabeth Jade (her pseudonym) in May 2018 when her first book, Akea, The Power of Destiny, was published. She told us that she was the child that struggled to fit in, and no one knew why: “[I was] the child who could tell you everything that had been going on ar…

The prevalence of autism continues to increase across the United States, regardless of socioeconomic class, according to a new study1. Overall, black and Hispanic children are less likely than their white peers to have an autism diagnosis. The findings highlight persistent racial disparities in auti…

Adults who have characteristics of autism are about three times as likely as their peers to not identify themselves as heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual, according to a new study1. The study is based on surveys of more than 47,000 adults in Sweden. It shows that about one out of five individuals …

Children with autism who speak few or no words improve in their verbal abilities after their parents learn to engage them in conversation during play, according to a pilot study1. The parents learn strategies such as following their child’s focus and engaging the child with words and toys. These str…

By Christa Holmans, Neurodivergent Rebel When I found out I was autistic at the age of twenty-nine, my entire world view was turned upside down. Growing up, I distinctly remember feeling like “everyone else was irrational and weird” but had no idea that I was, actually, the contrarian – despit…

“Everything in this whole building makes me feel like I have traveled to the future.” Ninja Camper Microsoft will be conducting a 5 day boot camp during the week of August 12, 2019 at its headquarters in Redmond, WA for current 7th, 8th, 9th, and 10th grade students with disabilities …

My name is Katrina and I am the casting associate of a 20th for ABC Pilot called NOT DEAD YET and got your details from my colleague. For the role of EDWARD, we are open to an actor who is neurodiverse or on the autism spectrum and we want to make sure we’ve auditioned anyone that might be ri…

Women who come down with influenza while pregnant are no more likely than those without the infection to have a child with autism, according to a study of nearly 200,000 mother-child pairs1. The findings contradict studies that suggested influenza infections during pregnancy double the chances of ha…

Tom visits Autsit in Lake Tahoe Tom Iland It feels great to get back into blogging again! I recently had one of the most enlightening and empowering experiences of my life and I want to tell YOU all about it so you might be enlightened and empowered, too! For the past three years, I’ve been attendin…

Imagine telling your students to sit down at the table for math. You finally get 4 students seated, but then you turn your back for two seconds to grab the materials for your lesson, and in the meantime, two kids pop up and run back to their preferred activities. Scenarios like these make me want t…

Having polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a hormonal disorder that affects up to 15 percent of women of childbearing age, increases the risk of having a child with autism by 59 percent1. The risk for obese women with the disorder is higher still — about double that of women who do not have PCOS. The …