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So Your Child Was Diagnosed with ASD: What Comes Next?
Receiving an ASD diagnosis for a child may be accompanied by a variety of reactions. For many parents and caregivers, the diagnosis may confirm what they had suspected. For others, it may come as a shock. Parents commonly note whether they had expected an ASD diagnosis or not, they often hoped they...
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Adult ASD Diagnosis: “It’s Not a Label – It’s an Explanation”
About a year ago, I attended a conference workshop on adult autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses which addressed their value to those on the spectrum. I was surprised, and even shocked, to learn that there is controversy about the value of these diagnoses, particularly for less-impaired adults...
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Autism Science Foundation Announces Expansion of the Autism Sisters Project – 3 New Grants Awarded to Search for the Female Protective Effect
The Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to catalyzing innovative autism research, announced the launch of three new multi-year research grants to expand the Autism Sisters Project at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and the Broad Institute in...
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The Face of Grief Before and After the Autism Spectrum
My husband Cedric and I used to joke we should have known from the beginning our extremely introverted daughter preferred not to be bothered with the rest of the world. Despite trying to arrive early at 35 weeks, at 42 weeks labor was induced and Jordan arrived. I remember the nurse saying,...
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Researchers Link Increased Infant Brain Fluid to Autism
MRIs show a brain anomaly in nearly 70 percent of babies at high risk of developing the condition who go on to be diagnosed, laying the groundwork for a predictive aid for pediatricians and the search for a potential treatment. A national research network led by UNC School of Medicine’s Joseph...
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Anxiety Measure for Children with Autism Found Reliable
A new method devised by a Drexel University professor to diagnose children on the spectrum for anxiety symptoms - which tend to be masked by symptoms of autism - was proven effective in a study published today. “Anxiety is considered an internalizing symptom, in that it is mostly felt by the...
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In Genetic Diagnosis, a Path Forward – Discovering Their Son’s Genetic Diagnosis Helps One Family in Many Ways
By the time her son Curren was 3 months old, Nerissa Ramsey knew there was something different about him. He had low muscle tone and flapped his hands. Hand-flapping is a repetitive behavior commonly seen in autism. After consulting with a series of specialists, the Ramsey family was referred to...
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“Labels Do Not Describe Me” Gender Identity Among Women on the Autism Spectrum
A large number of women with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are currently undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. In the United States, for every four males diagnosed with ASD, only one female is diagnosed (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2012). While there is likely to be a true sex difference in...
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The Unique Needs of Women and Girls with Autism
My own experience perhaps gives an insight into the repeatedly similar tales I hear from other autistic women and parents of girls. I came to the field of autism via employment in education and then as Training Manager of a specialist Asperger mentoring project for young people. By this point,...
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How Autism Manifests Differently in Girls: What Families Need to Know
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), in 2010 The Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network released data that showed “ASD prevalence…was 4–5 times higher among boys than girls” (http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss6302a1.htm)....
