Spectrum: Autism Research News

Research roundup

• Assessments that use a naturalistic setting to evaluate social-communication skills are more sensitive than standardized assessments for children with subclinical autism traits. Autism Research
• Children with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder can comfortably wear a face mask throughout a school day. JAMA Network Open
• Infants with autistic siblings appear to have sensory hyporesponsiveness. Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research
• People with variants of the TCF7L2 gene have developmental delays and an elevated chance of being diagnosed with autism or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. American Journal of Medical Genetics
• Field testing suggests that a new tool that uses parent reports can accurately screen for autism in 1- to 3-year-old children. Autism
• People with variants in the SLC6A1 gene often have developmental delay, autism, seizures or language problems, according to a new analysis of Simons Searchlight participants. (Simons Searchlight is funded by Simons Foundation, Spectrum’s parent organization.) Journal of Medical Genetics
• Researchers adapted the Social Responsiveness Scale, a measure of autism traits, for study in monkeys last year, as Spectrum reported, and now have validated its use in juvenile macaques. PLOS One
• Authors of studies on applied behavior analysis (ABA), a widely used autism therapy, frequently have conflicts of interest — they’re clinical ABA providers or consultants — yet they rarely report these potential biases, an issue Spectrum highlighted last year. Frontiers in Psychology
• Toddlers with autistic siblings tend to have more intense interests than those with non-autistic siblings. Autism Research

Science and society

• A new report estimates that research and industry involving human genetics contribute $265 billion to the U.S. economy each year. American Society of Human Genetics
• A bipartisan group of U.S. legislators is calling for increased spending on autism to support research, monitoring and services. Disability Scoop
• A comic-book series called “Jake Jetpulse” was inspired by the drawings of Jake Bradshaw, an autistic boy whose father is a cartoonist. Today
• The health insurance company for the U.S. military, Tricare, has limited its coverage of ABA in school settings. ABC 11