Hormones, Anxiety, Video Games, and DNA: Autism Research and Experts Available

Recent articles and Expert Profiles on Autism for media covering Autism Awareness Month in April

Please contact us if you have recent research related to autism - [email protected]. 

Newswise — Could a pancreatic enzyme be the key to treating disruptive behavior in young children with Autism? The answer to this question and many topics relevant to Autism and Autism Spectrum Disorders are included in this collection of research news and experts. 

April is Autism Awareness Month, and news about Autism seems more important than ever, with a rising diagnosis of the condition in children for the past 3 decades. Parents are more invested in understanding the signs and symptoms, and when they have a child with Autism, they want to know the most current treatment methods and care. Media outlets worldwide will be looking for stories to cover the latest developments in this important subject, and advocacy groups are working to raise awareness.  

Reporters looking for Autism research experts can access embargoed news with a Newswise Press Pass and request an expert through the Expert Query form. 

Other stories include COVID pandemic effects on anxiety in teens with Autism, how video games might be beneficial for kids with Autism, and what are some of the genetic keys to understanding Autism Spectrum Disorders. 

Pandemic Education Disruptions Likely Had Little Impact on Anxiety Levels of Autistic Teenagers

Southern Methodist University

2024-03-27

Study finds autistic teens' anxiety levels remained consistent amid COVID-19 disruptions to education, whether in-person, remote or homeschooled.

Children with autism benefit from use of video games

University of Delaware

2024-03-01

A University of Delaware lab is now pioneering the use of video games – specifically Nintendo Switch's Ring Fit – as an intervention to enhance movement and motor skills for children with autism. The research further demonstrates the positive impact of exercise-based games on cognition and social interactions.

Uncovering the connections between autism, sensory hypersensitivity

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

2024-02-28

Supported by a $2 million R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health, the Auerbach Lab at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology will examine how different genes associated with autism spectrum disorders may similarly impact our brain’s neurons, resulting in heightened sensitivity to sounds.

‘Gene of Prejudice’ Demystifies Autism

University of California San Diego

2024-02-28

Individuals with Williams syndrome have a gregarious “cocktail party” personality, while those with the opposite genetic alteration, in contrast, tend to have autistic traits and are prone to struggle socially. Research from UC San Diego sheds new light on the gene responsible.

Number of at-risk youth with intellectual disability and autism in the U.S. foster care system is growing

Drexel University

2024-02-12

Youth with foster care involvement have an increased risk for mental health diagnoses, trauma and worse outcomes in adulthood than their peers.

Understanding neurodiversity across the UK population - study

University of Birmingham

2024-02-07

A new study has provided insight into how experiences and features of neurodiversity vary amongst adults in the UK.

MU study shows blood pressure drug can reduce anxiety for people with autism

University of Missouri, Columbia

2024-01-23

A new study at the University of Missouri’s Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment found that propranolol, a medication that treats high blood pressure, can also help lower anxiety for kids and young adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). 

Pancreatic replacement therapy improves maladaptive behavior in preschool children with autism, according to research

University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston

2023-12-18

The use of high-protease pancreatic replacement therapy demonstrated improvement in maladaptive behaviors, such as irritability, in preschool children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to research conducted at 32 clinical sites, including UTHealth Houston.

Experts who can talk about Autism:

Andrew Gerber, MD, PhD

Medical Director/CEO

Austen Riggs Center

EXPERTISE: Neuroscience, Psychiatry, Psychoanalysis, Research, Mental Health, Psychotherapy, mental health policy, Autism, Attachment, adolescent mental health, Personality Disorders, bipolar, schizophrenia, Depression

Juergen Hahn, PhD

Department Head, Biomedical Engineering

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

EXPERTISE: Autism, Autism diagnosis, Autism Treatment And Research, Big Data, big data and medicine

James Daniel Peters III

Executive Director

Special Education Law Division; Law Offices of Sheila C. Bayne

EXPERTISE: Special Education, education law, Public Policy, Government, class action lawsuit, Autism

Sujatha Kannan, MBBS

Professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine

Johns Hopkins Medicine

EXPERTISE: Anesthesiology, Critical Care, Critical Care Medicine, Autism, Cerebral Palsy, Nanotechnology

Kristin Christodulu, PhD

Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Psychology

University at Albany, State University of New York

EXPERTISE: Psychology, Autism, Behavioral Interventions

Laura Hetrick, Ph.D.

Associate professor of art education

Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

EXPERTISE: Teacher identity, teacher subjectivity, Identity, subjectivity, Psychoanalysis, Pop Culture, popular visual culture, visual culture, pop visual culture, fandoms, fan art, Autism, autistic identity, autistic lived experience

Please contact us if you have recent research related to autism - [email protected]. 

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