Gender, like autism, exists on a spectrum. In the 1990s, as growing numbers of children sought care related to their gender identity, clinicians and researchers began to notice a trend: An unexpected number of these children were autistic or had autism traits. The observation has spurred researchers…

This sensory enrichment therapy helps people with autism become comfortable with new sensations, tastes, and tasks. The post Virtual Cooking Class for Autism Introduces New Tastes and Textures, Teaches Life Skills appeared first on The Autism Site News. Source: The Autism Site

Autistic men show a greater imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex than autistic women do, a new study has found1. The sex difference in this brain area, which is involved in social behavior and cognition, could help explain why autistic women seem to c…

"These masks also helped the shelter save more dogs, as we were able to spend more resources on our animals and less on PPE. Thank you Greatergood!" The post GreaterGood Is Donating Thousands of Masks to Help Animal Shelters Stay Open During COVID-19 appeared first on The Autism Site News. Source: T…

By Gretchen McIntirePhoto of Gretchen by GhoZt Studioz Photography I decided to try something bold this past month. I decided that for a couple of weeks I would delete my Instagram and Facebook (and messenger) and I would focus on a course that Yale offers (via Coursera) called “The Science of We…

The post Eyeing the connection between autism and vision appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Those in the medical field struggle to screen and diagnose autism. Our standardized screening tests are not perfect: They often erroneously flag children who turn out not to have autism and miss many of those who do. What’s more, there are far too few autism specialists to evaluate all those suspect…

Helen Eaton identifies as autistic and has three funny, enthusiastic, creative and neurodiverse children. She’s spent the last 15+ years delivering leadership and business skills training to some of the UK’s leading finance and technology companies. After one child was diagnosed as autistic, she beg…

People who do not identify with the sex they were assigned at birth are three to six times as likely to be autistic as cisgender people are, according to the largest study yet to examine the connection1. Gender-diverse people are also more likely to report autism traits and to suspect they have undi…

She has designed the clothing to be made completely out of water bottles, so it has a dual impact on the environment. Source: The Autism Site

Heidi Kershaw came up with the idea and presented it to a group of engineering students, hoping it would keep her 7-year-old son focused on his therapist during sessions. Source: The Autism Site

Many of us love to walk – be it as urban dwellers in the busy streets of a major city, in a park, or on an uneven hiking trail. Walking not only has many health benefits, but it is also good for the soul! However, for many individuals, walking for extended periods of time may not always be pos…

Many problems associated with fragile X syndrome stem from a leak in mitochondria, organelles that act as the power stations of the cell, a new study suggests1. Stopping this leak eases some of the autism-like traits of mice that model the syndrome. “The paper is very solid,” says John Jay Gargus, d…

We've donated thousands of masks to workers at wildlife sanctuaries to keep them safe.Source: The Autism Site