Spectrum: Autism Research News

Research roundup

• Autistic people’s social skills differ depending on whom they’re interacting with. Autism
• Preschool children with autism are prone to wandering away from supervised areas. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
• In the 1950s, behavioral health experts differed in their interpretations of Harry Harlow’s experiments with monkeys ‘raised’ by stand-ins for ‘refrigerator mothers.’ History of Psychiatry
• Birth appears to trigger cell death, a normal part of early brain development. eNeuro
• People with neurological diagnoses, including intellectual disability, may be at an elevated risk for suicide. JAMA
• Stem cells from autistic people with large heads, or macrocephaly, replicate unusually rapidly, which may create errors in cells’ DNA. Cell Stem Cell
• Research on autism in the elderly is thin, but the need for it is growing. Asian Journal of Psychiatry
• There are new clinical guidelines for ‘complex attention deficit hyperactivity disorder,’ which occurs in conjunction with other conditions, such as autism. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics
• Bumetanide, an approved diuretic drug, appears to ease autism traits in young children. Translational Psychiatry

Science and society

• The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has new guidance on the manufacture and clinical development of gene therapy products. U.S. Food and Drug Administration
• American parents of children with disabilities have more trouble finding childcare than parents of typical children do, according to two large surveys. Center for American Progress
• YouTube is streaming a 2005 British documentary on Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant with extraordinary language and mathematical talents. YouTube
• The BRAIN initiative of the U.S. National Institutes of Health has announced a new director, John Ngai, who says the project’s primary mission is to develop tools for clinical research. Science
• The in-person format of the Iowa caucuses — the first step in the U.S. presidential elections — prevents people with disabilities from participating. The Guardian
• A New York state park is raising funds to open an autism nature trail. WGRZ
• Key Bank has hired 11 new employees through its partnership with a recruitment firm that specializes in training and placing workers with autism. The Plain Dealer

Autism and the arts

•  Dave Howard, an autistic author of children’s books, has opened a colorful bookstore and art space in western Pennsylvania. Tribune-Review
• A Madison, Wisconsin, art gallery is exhibiting artwork from 15 adults and 9 children with autism. Isthmus

Publishing

• More than one-third of peer-reviewed scientific journals do not provide information about how to publish preprints. bioRxiv