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Spectrum: Autism Research News

Tag: health care

February 2023
A group of children walk up stairs

Filling autism knowledge gaps in Latin America: Q&A with Cecilia Montiel-Nava

by  /  13 February 2023

Countries across Latin America and the Caribbean struggle to collect data on autism, but Cecilia Montiel-Nava and the Latin American Autism Spectrum Network are beginning to change that.

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December 2022
Collage illustration of several people constructing a city with a Brazilian flag visible.

How to plan policies that support the autism community in Brazil: Lessons from a U.S. experience

by  /  21 December 2022

Brazil could learn from the challenges and successes of other nations to become a leader in planning for the needs of autistic people.

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A map of England displaying autism incidence.

Autism incidence in England varies by ethnicity, class, location

by  /  6 December 2022

High rates of autism are linked to lower socioeconomic status and minority ethnic groups, according to the largest-ever autism incidence study.

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November 2022
Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null and Noteworthy: COVID-19 conclusions; diagnosis duplication; oxytocin again

by  /  10 November 2022

This month’s newsletter explores the pandemic’s effects on autism rates, trends in co-occurring mental health conditions, and the impact of intranasal oxytocin.

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August 2022
A pregnant woman and a doctor, both masked, have a conversation in an examination room.

U.K. health authority investigates epilepsy drug’s link to autism

by  /  30 August 2022

Prenatal exposure to topiramate increases a child’s autism odds, according to the study that prompted the inquiry, but experts caution that pregnant people with epilepsy have few other options for controlling seizures.

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Illustration of hybrid objects: part light bulb, part lab vial, some in blue and some in red to signify null and replicated results.

Null and Noteworthy: Mind reading, specialist shortage, sleep problems source

by  /  23 August 2022

This month, a commonly used emotion-recognition test doesn’t perform as expected — nor does a survey of past efforts to train autism specialists or a hunt for the sources of the sleep problems that often accompany the condition.

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Child with parent and clinician

Australia drafts guideline for supporting autistic children

by  /  9 August 2022

Government-convened experts laid out 84 recommendations, with a particular focus on affirming neurodiversity and embracing human rights.

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July 2022
A mother holds her son while on a video call with a doctor.

Access to virtual autism therapy in U.S. could narrow post-COVID

by  /  15 July 2022

When the federal public health emergency expires, so too could temporary insurance coverage of applied behavior analysis conducted remotely. A proposed rule could block those changes, however, at least for people with public insurance.

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Evidence for remote autism assessments trickles in

by  /  8 July 2022

More than two years into the COVID-19 pandemic, emerging data support the remote tactics that kept autism diagnosis going during lockdowns.

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June 2022

Prioritizing physical health in autism: Q&A with Alice Kuo

by  /  6 June 2022

The principal investigator of the Autism Intervention Research Network on Physical Health wants to encourage more researchers to study physical health issues in autistic children and adults.

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