ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorders)
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What mechanisms underlie reduced social attention in people with ASD?
A key predictor of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnosis is attenuated attention to social stimuli.1 Thus far, the reasons underlying this abnormality are unknown: some have hypothesized reduced social motivation2 while others have suggested aberrant oculomotor function in affected individuals.3
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Conflicts of interest are under-reported in autism early intervention research
Researchers in the USA have studied, for the first time, the types, prevalence and effects of conflicts of interest (COI) in autism early intervention research.
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Do the same mechanisms drive social anxiety in autistic and neurotypical adolescents?
Researchers at King’s College London have recently published data on how cognitive, emotional and sensory factors are associated with social anxiety in adolescents with autism.
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Multi-disciplinary teams are needed to sensitively diagnose autism in Deaf children
An ethnographic study of NHS professionals, who diagnose autism in Deaf children, finds that recognizing the intersections between mental health and Deaf culture is essential for healthcare professionals to make sensitive diagnoses.
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Parents provide their perspective on the crossroads of autism and deafness
Often “diagnostic overshadowing” takes place — whereby autism might mask hearing loss or intellectual disability, and vice versa — is a real concern in children affected by both conditions.
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Can transdiagnostic CBT improve outcomes in children with ASD?
Transdiagnostic interventions apply the same underlying treatment principles across mental disorders, research in relation to ASD
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Can adult ASD outcomes be predicted by clinical measures made during childhood?
A new study has retrospectively profiled the adult outcomes of 123 children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to determine whether certain outcomes, or “types”, can be predicted from typical clinical measures made during childhood.
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Intolerance of uncertainty underlies demand avoidance behaviours in children
Researchers in Newcastle have conducted one of the first studies to conceptualise and understand the behavioural features of the pathological demand avoidance (PDA) profile — a proposed subtype of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) — in children and young people.
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Parental consanguinity predicts ASD severity
Parental consanguinity could predict ASD severity in this study after controlling for the effects of maternal health and developmental indicators.
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Identifying imaging biomarkers in the neonatal brain
The past decade has seen great improvements in magnetic resonance imaging technologies, such that it is now possible to image the developing brain in utero. In 2018, Dafnis Batalle and colleagues compiled an Annual Research Review for the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, where they evaluated the current status of neuroimaging research in neonates and paediatrics to determine the origins of neuropsychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders.
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