The post Spotted around the web: Week of 22 April 2019 appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Ralph and his family were almost to the front of the line when they learned the Spider-Man ride had broken down.Source: The Autism Site

Head movements, eye blinks, heartbeats, random fluctuations in brain waves — these are all common sources of unwanted signals, or ‘noise,’ in recordings of brain activity. Neuroscience researchers spend a lot of time using computational tools to extract meaningful signals from noise in their data. B…

Social difficulties have been considered a defining characteristic of autism since Leo Kanner published the first clinical descriptions of the condition in 1943. However, people with autism can show striking variability in social function: Some lack social interest and awareness of other people and …

To build a list of genes with definitive ties to autism — 65 and counting — researchers look for mutations that crop up in children with autism but not their unaffected parents and siblings. But these rare, harmful mutations are just one piece of autism’s complex genetic puzzle. Th…

Toilet training can be easier! Toilet Training for Individuals with Autism by Maria Wheeler, MEd, and Toilet Training Success by Frank Cicero, PhD, BCBA, offer toilet training tips and strategies for parents and professionals to implement into their programs using the methods and principles of Appli…

This is part three in a series on ethics and effective treatment. The previous installment can be found here.  At the root of ABA is a focus on reinforcing appropriate behaviors. The goal is to provide an environment that is rich in positive interactions and enjoyable activities, rather than centeri…

Interview with Author, Sally J. Pla I read children’s book, Benji, the Bad Day, and Me and fell in love with a story about siblings—one autistic and one neurotypical—where it’s the autistic sibling who shows compassion and empathy for his brother. I reached out to the author, Sally J. Pla, to find o…

Mr. McGavock is happy he decided to give Brandon a shot.Source: The Autism Site

The most common forms of autism — those that don’t occur as part of a rare genetic syndrome — are strongly heritable. But despite this distinctly biological basis, the condition’s variability has stymied the search for biomarkers, which might be used to improve diagnosis, track prognosis and identif…

Early in her first postdoctoral position, Hollis Cline first showed her hallmark flair for creative problem-solving. Cline, who goes by Holly, and her adviser, neuroscientist Martha Constantine-Paton, wanted to study the brain’s ‘topographical maps’ — internal representations of sensory input from t…

Autism research tweets this week sounded multiple notes of caution — about mouse models, early interventions, genetic associations and leaky recruitment pipelines. First among the tempered tweets, the field needs to reconsider rodent models, according to a new review from Jill Silverman, associate p…

Last week’s news involved mice playing a crucial role in paving a path towards curing paralysis. This week’s MVP is sheep! You read that right – a team of Australian researchers at The University of Sydney implanted bionic eyes in a flock of sheep that resulted in exceptionally sharp eyesight.…

This aspect of life was very important for Eashana’s sister, who has autism. So Eashana came up with an app.Source: The Autism Site