Feature Channels: Autism

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People with strong signs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) show neural signs of anxiety when they see social touch and report unpleasant feelings about social touch by comparison to people with weak signs of ASD. This finding has emerged from a new study undertaken at the University of Haifa. “Until now, it was clear that many people with ASD dislike touch. This study enables us to understand that they actual experience touch in a similar way to anxiety,” explains Leehe Peled-Avron, a doctorate student in the Department of Psychology, who undertook the study.

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Theo Courtesy: Thomas & Friends Thomas & Friends is set to introduce a new line of "experimental engines," including Theo, who is described as genuinely kind and caring, but with an awkward habit of blunt speaking. He also has a geared drive system that often does not run smoothly, making sudden jolts when his cogs jam.

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Students will soon make the often-tricky transition to a new school year, and among these students are those identified with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or other developmental/behavioral differences.

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A recent study by Penn Medicine researchers published online ahead of print in the Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry found that the costs associated with the Early Start Denver Model (ESDM), one evidence-based treatment for young children with autism, were fully offset after only two years following intervention due to reductions in children’s use of other services.

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UAB School of Education experts provide some tips to parents on how to ease the back-to-school transition for children with special needs and emotional and behavioral disorders.

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An antenna-like structure on cells, once considered a useless vestige, can cause defects in the brain’s wiring similar to what’s seen in autism, schizophrenia, and other disorders. In the lab, UNC scientists prevented defects by restoring signaling though these structures called primary cilia.

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Press can register here to livestream this special session through Newswise Live on Monday, July 31 at 7:30 PM EDT

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Children with autism have a tell-tale difference on brain tests compared with other children

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A Florida State University researcher is working with art therapists to find better ways to treat children who have Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Researchers were able to develop a set of guidelines for delivering art therapy to children who have ASD.

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Using eye-tracking technology, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta have found compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people’s eyes and faces or at objects. The discovery adds new detail to understanding the causes of autism spectrum disorder. Studying twins, the researchers found that where babies focus their eyes is under stringent genetic control.

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Measuring a set of proteins in the blood may enable earlier diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a study from the Peter O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

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New research involving the University of Portsmouth is aiming to develop robots to help children with autism in ways humans can't.

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Mount Sinai study suggests that this gives them certain advantages over their peers

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A group of researchers from several institutions in the USA, including Johns Hopkins Medicine, reports that its review of 22 clinical trials of fragile X syndrome (FXS) suggests the need for a wider use of newer and improved treatment outcome measurement tools for this and other several neurodevelopmental disorders. FXS is the most common inherited form of intellectual disability and the most common form of autism associated with a single gene mutation.

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In two previous studies, University of North Carolina researchers and colleagues linked infant brain anatomy differences to autism diagnoses at age two. Now they show differences in functional connections between brain regions at 6 months to predict autism at age two.

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Kristin Sohl, director of ECHO Autism, says that the expanding ECHO Autism will help families and children with autism around the world, especially those living in remote areas.

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Baby teeth from children with autism contain more toxic lead and less of the essential nutrients zinc and manganese, compared to teeth from children without autism, according to a study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS), part of the National Institutes of Health. The researchers studied twins to control genetic influences and focus on possible environmental contributors to the disease. The findings, published June 1 in the journal Nature Communications, suggest that differences in early-life exposure to metals, or more importantly how a child’s body processes them, may affect the risk of autism.

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Mount Sinai study uses a unique source—baby teeth—to reveal that both the timing and amount of exposure can affect diagnosis

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Nancy Cheak-Zamora, assistant professor of health sciences at MU, says that as more children with autism enter adulthood, improved communication between providers, adolescents and caregivers is needed to help those with autism make adult health care decisions.

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In a small, randomized Phase I/II clinical trial (SAT1), researchers at University of California San Diego School of Medicine say a 100-year-old drug called suramin, originally developed to treat African sleeping sickness, was safely administered to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), who subsequently displayed measurable, but transient, improvement in core symptoms of autism.