Category: Autism News

Film script highlights former high school wrestler An actor and writer from Beacon is hoping to bring to the big screen a movie inspired by the true story of an autistic high school student who conquers his fear of touch by joining the wrestling team in his freshman year. Carrie Gibson is raising money to…

General developmental profiles of infants at elevated- and low-likelihood of ASD General developmental profiles of infants were evaluated using the MSEL test at 5 and 36 months of age, and with ADOS-2 at 36 months of age. Key confounding perinatal factors such as antibiotic exposure, preterm birth and medical conditions were excluded during enrollment. Additionally,…

Mbd2 is required for cognitive, social, and emotional behaviors Previous studies on Mbd2−/− mice behavior found impaired maternal behaviors such as suboptimal feeding and delayed pup retrieval [23]. Hypoactivity, impaired nest-building behavior and mild spatial learning and memory impairments were found in male Mbd2−/− mice [30]. We further tested whether Mbd2 is involved in behavior…

As a parent, seeing your child battle depression can be one of the most difficult things to do. You want to help them through it and see brighter days ahead, no matter how bleak things may look at the time. But what about children with autism? Can a child have autism and depression? The simple…

Applying for a passport can fill anyone with dread — the lines, the wait time, the paperwork. Stress is a common response. But the process can be overwhelming for people with autism spectrum disorder. The last time Steve Moyer tried to get a passport for his son Mathew, now 28, it was a mess. Mathew…

Null result: The number of excitatory synapses (red, green) in the hippocampus remains unchanged in mice missing all three neuroligins (right) compared with controls (left). Deleting sticky molecules called neuroligins from astrocytes in mice has no effect on the cells’ shape or on synapse formation, a new preprint claims. The findings are at odds with…

Summary: A new study finds that children with autism experience memory difficulties, which extend beyond social memories. These memory struggles are associated with distinct brain wiring patterns. Such challenges might be affecting academic success for these children, offering a new perspective for autism treatment. The findings also suggest that memory impairments may contribute significantly to…

“If you’ve ever been on a night out where you got blackout drunk and have laughed the next day as your friends tell you all the stupid stuff you said, that’s what being autistic feels like for me: one long blackout night of drinking, except there’s no socially sanctioned excuse for your gaffes and no…

Composite condition: A variety of social and biological factors influence whether a person is ultimately diagnosed with autism. d3sign / Getty Images About 1 percent of people not diagnosed with autism have rare variants in genes associated with the condition, a new study finds. The results support the idea that a variety of social and…

Children with autism have memory challenges that hinder not only their memory for faces but also their ability to remember other kinds of information, according to new research. These other impairments are reflected in distinct wiring patterns in the children’s brains, the researchers report. The findings clarify a debate about memory function in kids with…