Search results

You searched for: OpenHouse+on+Autism
  • Toughened toddlers seek rewards & Toddlers’ temperament is autism early indicator

    Two overviews of papers focusing on toddlers. The first on those who grow up in a harsh environment and act assertively at aged two tend to do better than average when solving reward-based problems, but do worse on abstract ones. The second suggesting a new avenue for exploring early diagnosis in autism.

    Read more
  • rd-bridge-autistic-girls-better-comms-skills

    Do autistic girls have better communication and interaction skills than autistic boys?

    There is ongoing debate as to whether autism spectrum disorder (ASD) differentially affects males and females. Several meta-analyses have found little difference between males and females with ASD in terms of social communication and interaction skills. However, such analyses have often relied on diagnostic instruments such as the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition 2 that may not be sensitive to how autism presents in females. What’s more, many have been based on global scores, that reflect overall social communication and interaction skills, which could miss subtler differences in specific domains.

    Read more
  • Cognitive inflexibility contributes to both externalising and internalising difficulties in ASD

    Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) commonly experience internalising and externalising symptoms, but the underlying cognitive mechanisms are unclear. In their latest study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, Ann Ozsivadjian and colleagues examined the role of three cognitive factors that might contribute to these difficulties.

    Read more
  • How effective is medication for ADHD symptoms in children with ASD?

    Clinically significant attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) symptoms are common and impairing in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).1 Moreover, ADHD is the most common co-occurring mental health diagnosis driving increased rates of medication use in children with ASD.

    Read more
  • Are autistic behaviours a trait or a state of anorexia nervosa?

    Anorexia nervosa (AN) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) seem to co-occur more frequently than would be expected by chance.1,2 Yet because most studies investigating the nature of this co-occurrence have used a retrospective design, where the data are prone to recall bias, we don’t know whether the elevation of autistic traits in AN is present from childhood or rather from AN onset.

    Read more
  • pupils in school

    Do sex differences affect ASD symptom severity scores?

    Researchers in the USA have investigated whether standard diagnostic assessments for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are biased against girls.

    Read more
  • girl watching TV

    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

    Read more
  • 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.

    Read more
  • 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.

    Read more
  • Children with ASD at heightened risk for maltreatment

    A study conducted by researchers at the University of South Carolina is the first to provide empirical evidence from population-level data that maltreatment is elevated in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relative to the general population.

    Read more