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Archive for the ‘Science and Research’ Category

Autism @ Work: Insights From a World-First Global Study on Employing Autistic Adults

 Since the emergence of Specialisterne, a growing number of multi-national organizations have implemented neurodiversity hiring programs including SAP, JP Morgan, Microsoft, IBM, and several others. Alongside them are the innovative pioneers within the social enterprise and...

Early Screening Tool Leads to Earlier Diagnosis and Treatment for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Since it debuted in 2011, the Get SET Early program, which provides pediatricians and parents with a relatively simple process to screen for indicators of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children as young as age 1, has steadily grown in use and validation. Early screening and identification of...

Largest-Ever Genetic Study of Autism Yields New Insights

Anyone who’s spent time with people affected by autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can tell you that it’s a very complex puzzle. The wide variability seen among individuals with this group of developmental brain disorders, which can disrupt communication, behavior control, and social skills, has...

Genome Testing for Siblings of Individuals May Aid in a Diagnosis Before Symptoms Appear

One of the key priorities of interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is starting early, with some evidence showing infants as young as seven months old could benefit. Yet, most children in North America aren’t diagnosed with ASD until they’re over four years of age. New research led by...

Scientists Want to Know Your Opinions About Participating in Research

Poor or slow recruitment into research studies has a negative impact on research discoveries and shorten patient lives. There are lost opportunities for new discoveries, and evidence-based resources and services are delayed. Funding organizations and researchers need to come up with creative...

Community Engagement Conference Promotes Partnership Between Autism Researchers and Community

Despite the advancement in autism research, one of the challenges that researchers still face today is engaging low-income, racial/ethnic minority, and non-English speaking families. Underresourced families who work multiple jobs have less time to participate in research; some families do not have...

Using Gene Editing, Neuroscientists Develop a New Model for Autism

By introducing a gene variant associated with autism into monkeys, researchers hope to use the model to study treatment options for severe neurodevelopmental disorders. Using the genome-editing system CRISPR, researchers at MIT and in China have engineered macaque monkeys to express a gene...

Communication in Brain May Be Remarkably Constant in Autism

Communication in brain activity in people with autism are unusually consistent over seconds — and even years, two new studies suggest.1,2 One study shows that patterns of connectivity remain stable in autistic adolescents, whereas they tend to change and specialize in controls. The other study...

New Biomarker Panel Could Accelerate Autism Diagnoses

About 17 percent of kids with autism identified with metabolic blood test Investigators at the UC Davis MIND Institute and NeuroPointDX, a division of Stemina Biomarker Discovery, have identified a group of blood metabolites that could help detect some children with autism spectrum disorder...

Reducing Disparities in Early Identification of ASD

Early identification of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) expedites access to appropriate intervention and leads to improved functional outcomes (Dawson et al., 2010). Yet, despite concerns of possible ASD often noted by 18 months, the median age of diagnosis in the United States continues to hover...