Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

WEEK OF
August 27th

Research roundup

Science and society

  • Despite abundant evidence to the contrary, the majority of people in some European countries still think autism and vaccines might be linked. The Conversation
  • Meanwhile, Russian ‘trolls’ are busy on U.S. social media pushing the idea that vaccines cause autism. BuzzFeed News
  • Shock was the primary reaction to news that Tom Frieden, former head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), was arrested for groping a woman. CNBC
  • The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is working on a policy to revoke AAAS fellow status for members found guilty of harassment. Twitter
  • Would a funding model homegrown in Silicon Valley fill in the grant gaps opening up at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH)? The Scientist
  • The NIH is poking around in the financial affairs of grant recipients, primarily in technology, on the lookout for failure to disclose foreign funding. STAT
  • Brexit poses a greater-than-expected threat to British science. BBC News
  • The CDC has announced plans to include teenagers in its autism surveillance network, which previously focused only on 8-year-olds. Disability Scoop
  • The world of neurotypicals needs to listen to people on the spectrum and stop thinking of them in clichés. Aeon
  • U.K. charities that train support dogs for autistic people are overwhelmed with requests. BBC News
  • Almost 200 years after his birth, Gregor Mendel’s name becomes a buzzword in clinical trials. MIT Technology Review

Autism and the arts

  • Social provocateur Sacha Baron Cohen (‘the other Baron Cohen’ to autism researchers) tried — and failed — to trick NIH director Francis Collins into doing something regrettable for the comedian’s new Showtime special. STAT
  • Neurologist and author Oliver Sacks made notes in the margins of books he was reading that reveal some strong opinions. Twitter
  • A photographer combines candid stills from her autistic brother’s life with illuminating handwritten commentary from him. The New York Times

Funding news

  • U.S. science and engineering is getting a superlatively powerful supercomputer, thanks to a $60 million funding bolus from the National Science Foundation. National Science Foundation
  • Not to be outdone, a Chinese billionaire living in the United States has earmarked $1 billion of his personal funds for brain research. The Business Times