The practice of categorizing autistic people into subtypes based on similarities in their traits and abilities is divisive. Subtypes can have negative connotations, evoking images of stereotyping and marginalization. For decades, the autism spectrum was, by definition, a collection of subtypes, incl…

As wearable sensors have become lighter and cheaper, they have found their way into a range of fitness trackers and health apps. They monitor our movement and record our heart rhythms. They can even gauge the quality of our sleep. For autism researchers, wearable sensors are providing a novel way to…

2022 is still a few months away but one exciting thing to look forward to next year is Kellogg’s new accessible packaging for cereal boxes that will make it really easy for people with visual impairment to quickly read important information on a box. Beginning in January 2022, all Special K cerea…

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Community Newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. Autism Twitter tackled some difficult ethical questions this week around biomarkers and early interventions. The discussion kicked off when Arianna Manzini, a research associate in…

The post Spotted around the web: Mislabeled ‘autism traits,’ cerebellum in autism, medicinal cannabis appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

Some mutations in SCN2A, a gene reliably linked to autism, change social behaviors in mice by dampening the electrical activity of their neurons, according to a new study. SCN2A encodes a sodium channel that helps neurons send electrical signals. So-called ‘gain-of-function’ mutations make the chann…

From a woman on the autism spectrum By Bea Mienik Can you paint with no color? As this year’s Disability Pride Month came to a close last month many companies pledged their support for disability inclusion. Where is the walk behind the talk? Ours is a society that is daily becoming more and m…

A new atlas catalogs more than 125,000 protein-protein interactions across brain and six other kinds of tissue in mice — more than doubling the number previously known. The dataset, described in Cell in July, may prove useful to autism researchers aiming to understand which proteins ‘talk’ to each o…

A new online repository compiles information on the small molecules, or metabolites, produced by nearly 200 microorganisms that commonly inhabit the human gut. The resource, described in Nature in July, could help scientists characterize the outputs of gut microbiota in autistic people and explore h…

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…

People vary greatly in their ability to identify and describe the emotions they feel every day. While many people can easily tell when they are happy, sad, angry or frightened, others have great difficulty making sense of their emotional states or describing them to others. People with such challeng…

Brain responses to visual stimuli are smaller and weaker in children with Phelan-McDermid syndrome, an autism-linked genetic condition, than in non-autistic children, according to a new study. The difference in response is greater in children with larger genetic mutations. Mutations or deletions in …

Guest post by Emily Ansell Elfer, BA Hons, Dip. It is well-known that many people on the autism... The post Understanding the Difference Between Social Anxiety Disorder and Autism appeared first on The Autism Site News. Source: The Autism Site

Hello, and welcome to this week’s Community Newsletter! I’m your host, Chelsey B. Coombs, Spectrum’s engagement editor. Parents’ perceptions of autism have changed as the condition’s prevalence has increased, according to a new paper that analyzed survey data over a 15-year period. Those with autist…