By Kit Oz I started painting oyster shells last year, as a lark. I’d seem some Dutch oyster shells painted with blue and white china patterns, and thought they were beautiful. As I have easy access to oysters here in Seattle, I thought it would be fun to take the idea of painting shells and make it …

People who have ‘profound autism’ — those with severe intellectual disability, limited communication abilities or both — tend to be excluded from research. The Autism Science Foundation seeks to change that. The post New program offers $35K grants to study ‘profound autism’ appeared first on Spectru…

The buzz this week hovered around the neurodiversity perspective on autism behavioral interventions, a virtual-reality program designed to help autistic people enter the workforce, and an announcement from an autism journal. The post Community Newsletter: Therapy concerns, job training, a journal’s …

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 11 July. The post Spotted around the web: Mitochondrial genome, anorexia nervosa, drowning prevention appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

When the federal public health emergency expires, so too could temporary insurance coverage of applied behavior analysis conducted remotely. A proposed rule could block those changes, however, at least for people with public insurance. The post Access to virtual autism therapy in US could narrow pos…

Long cast in supporting roles in the brain, astrocytes are now emerging as primary players in certain characteristics of autism and related conditions. The post Portrait of a research field: astrocytes in autism appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

By: Catherine L. McHugh, MA, BCBA, LBA and Thomas Zane, PhD, BCBA-DDepartment of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas Historically, teaching a communicative repertoire to children or individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual and developmental disabilities (I…

The growth differences vary between autistic boys and girls and are most apparent among children with prominent social difficulties. The post Amygdala-linked brain areas grow differently in autism appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

The vast stretches of DNA that don't code for proteins could fill key knowledge gaps about autism genetics. But making sense of it all won't be easy. The post The final frontier: Autism geneticists take on the noncoding genome appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

An experimental drug improves sensory sensitivities in fragile X model mice — but only if it's administered after certain brain circuits have formed, according to a new unpublished study. The post Timing is key in treating sensory traits in fragile X appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research New…

“Growing up as an autism sibling was not easy and there was a lot of things I never understood, but as an adult I’ve learned how to find gratitude for the journey.” Natalie Castro By Ron Sandison Autism and sensory issues makes living space important to me. Home is a place for me to decompress and r…

One thing that people involved in farming have to do every year is apply manure to their farms. To put things in perspective, in the state of Wisconsin, farmers and manure applicators apply around 7 billion gallons of manure every year. The individuals involved in this process typically use maps tha…

This week's talk on Twitter included discussion on the merits of impact factors, responses to a Lancet commission's recommendations for the autism field and research on oxytocin receptors. The post Community Newsletter: Autism impact factors, autistic people’s perspectives, oxytocin receptor appeare…

Here is a roundup of news and research for the week of 4 July. The post Spotted around the web: Autism prevalence, RELN gene, fallout from changing abortion laws appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News