The post The measure of a life appeared first on Spectrum. Source: Spectrum News

A new method allows scientists to chemically coax immune cells in blood into becoming mature neurons. Generating neurons from people with autism with the technique, described 8 March in Stem Cell Reports, could help researchers understand how autism-related mutations affect the brain, and help them …

WHILL, Inc. (WHILL) announced in San Francisco recently that it has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearance on a new model that will be released in the coming months.The FDA decision involved an extensive review of Model M, a technologically advanced wheelchair. Model M was develo…

Bacterial fragments can cross the placenta of a pregnant mouse into the brains of her developing pups, leading to a surplus of neurons in the pups, along with learning deficits later on, suggests a new study. The results jibe with others indicating that some people with autism have an excess of neur…

After years on the rise, the rate of autism among U.S. children may be leveling off. According to data released today by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 1 in 68 school-age children have the condition. The agency reported the same rate in 2014, hinting at a possible plateau…

How Autistic people experience the world is still not well understood by many mental health clinicians. As many Autistic adults – and particularly women – are undiagnosed, mental health clinicians may assume they communicate and behave like a non-Autistic person would in the same situati…

How do blind people know what's going on around them? Are people interested in their conversations? Are they giving them full attention? What sort of activities are people taking part in around them while they are, let's say, sitting on a park bench?Wouldn't it be nice if there could be a device tha…

Dave Angel has worked with children, adults and families with a variety of differences for over 20 years in the social care field. In the past 10 years he has been supporting parents of children with Aspergers online through his Parenting Aspergers Community, blog,  and, more recently, his daily ema…

Roughly 7 percent of children with autism eventually lose their diagnosis, swapping social problems and language difficulties for more typical skills and behaviors. But it is unclear whether this transition is associated with a return to typical brain function or reflects a compensatory process. New…

The post New numbers; film flub; diversity deficiency appeared first on Spectrum. Source: Spectrum News

By Debra Muzikar When Kevin was three years old he was part of an early intervention program funded by Santa Barbara County Education Office. The preschool program was part of an inclusive school called Discoveries Preschool in Santa Barbara. At 7:10 AM for three years a short yellow bus rounded our…

April is Autism Awareness Month, and we can never underestimate the importance of such a time.Source: The Autism Site

By Debra Muzikar Happy Autism Acceptance Month. Yesterday, World Autism Awareness Day, cake decorators from 21 countries revealed cakes that were inspired by autistic themes. They came together using their talent to shatter misconceptions and bring awareness to Autism. Some of the cakes were inspire…

A class of fungicides used on crops can produce changes in mouse brain cells that look strikingly similar to those seen in the brains of people with autism. The findings, published 31 March in Nature Communications, support the use of ‘transcriptomics’ — a rapid method of analyzing gene expression i…