Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

People ask me all the time how they can help. People on this page. I speak about that out of control feeling that happens when my son starts struggling. When his big feelings about waiting or sitting overwhelm him. Or when the noise is too much, and the lights are too bright, or he smells…

Fade out: Presynapses (purple) on sensory neurons dwindle over the first 24 hours of fruit fly metamorphosis. Over- or under-expression of UBE3A, a gene linked to autism and autism-related syndromes, alters synapse pruning at the signal-releasing ends of neurons, according to a study in fruit flies. The findings add to mounting evidence that UBE3A plays…

HONOLULU — For most of his 15 years, Ryan Edghill-Pearson was trapped in a prison of silence like many people with autism — he couldn’t speak. “My son used to have such rages, it’s the frustration of not being able to communicate,” Janet Edghill said, and to make it worse his lack of speech led…

Summary: Scientists have discovered a direct link between the protein p53 and autism-like behavior in mice. The researchers studied the effects of manipulating p53 levels in the mouse hippocampus. Reduced levels resulted in repetitive behavior, diminished sociability, and impaired learning, especially in male mice. This pivotal work uncovers the intricate role of p53 in neurodevelopmental…

Boy With Autism Wins Golf Tournament Despite Having Only Played Three Rounds in His Whole Life A boy named Bayleigh Teepa-Tarau recently shook the golf world, especially in his home country of New Zealand. The 12-year-old, who is on the autism spectrum, won a national tournament despite only having every played just three rounds of…

The global Autism Parenting Summit is returning in October 2023.  Imagine 32,000 attendees, 30+ world-class speakers, 4 informative days, and 1 global event  – the Autism Parenting Summit is back!  The Summit, hosted by Autism Parenting Magazine, is a free virtual event on October 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th.  Doctors, psychologists, educators, advocates, and people…

​ A retired police officer from New Rochelle, New York, has been charged with embezzling roughly $24,000 from a charity he founded in honor of his autistic son, and spending the money for his own personal purposes. Christopher Greco, 52, and a 25-year veteran of the New Rochelle Police Department who retired in August 2021,…

Inside: In this heart-to-heart conversation, Rachel Le, an autistic mom of three neurodivergent kids, opens up about her and her children’s diagnoses, their overwhelming journey, and the ray of hope she found using the Calm the Chaos framework. Powered by RedCircle Ever feel like you’re just bouncing around rock bottom… everything is exhausting and difficult… …

Growing up as an autistic teenager in the early noughties, I often struggled with the prejudices of the people around me. When I obsessed over specific interests, failed to make eye contact and was socially awkward, I would be told that there was something “wrong” with me. For a long time, I internalized these assessments;…

It was supposed to be an opportunity to bring the field together. In January, the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders, part of of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, held an online symposium on minimally verbal and nonspeaking autistic people. It drew in nearly 50 researchers and other stakeholders, with the goal…