Analyzing five sleep-related factors reveals associations between sleep troubles in autistic children and problem behaviors during the day, according to a new study1. Children with autism are more likely to have more, and more severe, difficulties with sleep than their typical peers are2. They are a…

The post Spotted around the web: Sleep problems, social comfort, police training appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

What do autistic adults need to know about sex? Everything. Just like everyone else. As I have discovered over the course of my career, a lack of comprehensive sex education may prevent them from forming fulfilling romantic relationships, and it may make them targets of abuse. I am a teacher at a no…

Researchers have cataloged more than 100 mutations in DDX3X, a candidate gene for autism1. The study is the first to closely analyze the relationship between these mutations and their effects on autistic people. The researchers combined clinical observations and brain scans of children with genetic …

“People have seen this phenomenon before, but it’s the kind of story that is hard to believe, which I think stems from the fact that we did not know the mechanism."Source: The Autism Site

Parents, caregivers, therapists and teachers alike work so hard to teach a variety of play skills but what happens when your child or student doesn’t make that leap from facilitated play to independent play? Independent play is such an important skill that will allow him or her to better connect wit…

Most research journals, including Cell, JAMA and Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, have unclear policies regarding preprints and peer review, a new analysis finds1. Preprints are publicly available versions of research papers that have not yet been peer reviewed. Many preprints are la…

Over the past decade, biologists have increasingly been posting their research results on preprint servers, ahead of the results’ publication in traditional scientific journals. Preprints are part of a broader ‘open access’ movement in science publishing that aims to expand free access to findings a…

"He’s amazing. He is just my world."Source: The Autism Site

A delay in autistic children’s brain responses to sound continues into adulthood, according to the first study to examine the phenomenon in adults on the spectrum1. The study also linked this delay to language difficulties. When a person hears a sound — a musical note, for example, or someone speaki…

She got to take her stuffed puppy for a lap just like the other participants did with their pets.Source: The Autism Site

Autistic Emotions and the Sensory System By Jess, Holistic Autistic Emotional regulation is the ability to respond to stimuli with emotions that are acceptable to the situation and to manage emotionally driven behaviors. This is something both inherent, and learned and developed over time. A p…

A handshake, a casual high-five, a polite and efficient end to a phone call: Such behaviors are among the building blocks of social interactions. These interactions also require retooling behaviors on the fly — retracting an outstretched hand when the other person moves in for a hug or changing the …

Guilhem Gallart, who goes by Pone, is a 45 year old French hip hop artist who has made some amazing music in the ’90s. In 2015, Pone was diagnosed with ALS, and since then has been a tetraplegic, tracheostomized, and is fed through a tube. As an artist who is completely bed-ridden, cannot …