WEEK OF
July 9th
Anxiety app
Autistic adults can access an app, Molehill Mountain, designed to help them manage their anxiety, King’s College London announced 10 July. The app relies on cognitive behavioral therapy approaches that have been adapted for people on the spectrum.
Sources
King’s College London / 10 Jul 2018
Molehill Mountain – an app to help autistic people with anxiety
Favorite things
Hats, books, rolls of old-fashioned film, a beloved backpack. These items are among the examples autistic New Yorkers gave the public radio station WNYC when asked about their favorite stim toys, objects they use to self-soothe through repetitive movement. The story was published 7 July on Shots, NPR’s health news resource.
Sources
NPR / 07 Jul 2018
Autistic New Yorkers share their stim-toy stories with 'Aftereffect'
Overheard words
A small study suggests that children on the spectrum are like other children in their ability to pick up new words simply by overhearing them. Researchers reported 3 July on the linguistic advantage of eavesdropping in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Sources
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / 03 Jul 2018
Brief report: Learning language through overhearing in children with ASD
Bilingual advantage
Speaking of words, concerns that children with autism might experience negative effects from bilingual homes appear to be unfounded. A review of the evidence suggests a positive influence on both verbal and nonverbal communication. Autistic children from bilingual households show a particular advantage in their use of nonverbal cues such as gestures, The Conversation reported 5 July.
Sources
The Conversation / 05 Jul 2018
Can you raise an autistic child to be bilingual – and should you try?
Tech coach
Google Glass can serve as a social coach for autistic people, delivering information about facial expression and eye movement to the user. Investigators from the Autism Glass Project say that the device can teach users to read eight emotions, including happiness, anger, fear and disgust. Researchers talked about their unpublished findings, based on more than 100 people, 5 July in the South China Morning Post.
Sources
South China Morning Post / 05 Jul 2018
How Google Glass can improve autistic children’s social skills by reading facial expressions
Income influence
Ethnicity and socioeconomic status interact to affect parental awareness of the signs of developmental conditions, such as autism. In particular, low-income Latino parents in the United States who are not fluent in English tend to have less experience with and awareness of these conditions, researchers reported 4 July in Academic Pediatrics.
Sources
Academic Pediatrics / 04 Jul 2018
Disparities in familiarity with developmental disabilities among low-income parents
Screening shortfall
Despite considerable discussion about the importance of early intervention for developmental conditions, screening and surveillance rates in the U.S. remain dismally low. Only about one-third of young children are screened for these conditions, with huge differences among states, researchers reported 9 July in JAMA Pediatrics.
Sources
JAMA Pediatrics / 09 Jul 2018
Prevalence and variation of developmental screening and surveillance in early childhood
Cycle considerations
Autistic women who menstruate have many of the same questions and concerns as those not on the spectrum. This perhaps predictable finding, published 7 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, emerged from what researchers call the first study to ask autistic women about their experiences with menstruation.
Women on the spectrum did report some autism-specific challenges related to menstruation, including sensory responses and emotional and behavioral regulation.
Sources
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / 07 Jul 2018
“Life is much more difficult to manage during periods”: Autistic experiences of menstruation
Romantic revelations
Romance novelist Helen Hoang, who is autistic, wrote her first book as a way to process her autism diagnosis, she told NBC News 5 July. She also said that she wanted to create a heroine on the spectrum because books and other media only rarely portray autistic characters accurately.
Sources
NBC News / 05 Jul 2018
In 'The Kiss Quotient', Helen Hoang uses writing to process her autism diagnosis
Best care
Primary-care physicians see their practices as the best place for children on the spectrum to receive care for physical and behavioral conditions related to their autism. Investigators described these findings and discussed the accommodations such practices make for this population 7 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Sources
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders / 07 Jul 2018
Expanding the capacity of primary care to treat co-morbidities in children with autism spectrum disorder
News tips
Do you have a new paper coming out? Are you making a career move? Did you see a study or news story that you want to share? Send your news tips to news@spectrumnews.org.
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