Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

This study examined cognitive and affective empathy in individuals with autism spectrum condition (ASC), social anxiety (SA), and those without these conditions. A total of 105 university students (mean age = 24.2 years) were divided into three groups: ASC (n = 34), SA (n = 38), and controls (n = 33). Participants completed the Social Responsiveness Scale-2 (SRS-2), Liebowitz Social Anxiety Scale (LSAS), and Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI) to assess cognitive (fantasy, perspective taking)...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that is primarily characterized by deficits in social interaction, impaired communication, restricted interests, and repetitive behaviors. The prevalence of ASD has been steadily increasing, establishing it as one of the leading causes of disability among children worldwide. Although the precise pathogenesis of ASD remains unclear, factors such as genetic predisposition, environmental exposures, immune dysregulation, and...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Autistic people are at greater risk of self-harm than non-autistic people, yet no tools exist specifically for assessing self-harm in this population. We therefore conducted two focus groups with autistic adults (n = 5) and professionals (n = 4) to examine their perspectives on three existing self-harm assessment tools (Non-Suicidal Self-Injury - Assessment Tool, Inventory of Statements About Self-Injury and Questionnaire for Non-Suicidal Self-Injury). Using a reflexive thematic analysis, we...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Participatory research is one pathway for advancing the agenda of autistic advocates; however, little is known about the attitudes and values of autism researchers toward participatory research. This is a participatory research mixed-methods study of 215 survey respondents and 21 interviewees, all corresponding authors of published autism research papers. Our aim was to identify attitudes and practices about participatory research with autistic and non-autistic community partners. We found...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Adolescence is a vulnerable developmental period for autistic youth. Autistic adolescents often use camouflaging to combat social challenges, perceived differences, and stigmatization. Although adolescence is an integral period for identity development, integration of these topics remains understudied in current literature. Evidence of elevated camouflaging rates among autistic females and gender-diverse adults underscores the need to examine the developmental trajectory of these topics. The...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Many Autistic adults without intellectual disability experience emotion dysregulation, which is associated with non-suicidal self-injury and suicidal behaviour. Dialectical behaviour therapy has been shown to be feasible, acceptable and potentially effective is supporting Autistic adults without intellectual disability with improved emotion regulation. Since dialectical behaviour therapy research is in its early stages in the field of autism, it is crucial to better understand the subjective...

Le Thu, 19 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Purpose: To evaluate changes over time in oral health fatalism (OHF) and oral health self-efficacy (OHSE) in the context of an intervention, in caregivers of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: This secondary analysis used questionnaire data from a parent study of 118 Medicaid-eligible families of children with ASD enrolled in a longitudinal, multi-site randomized clinical trial testing the efficacy of a novel parent training (PT) intervention relative to psychoeducational...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are widespread environmental contaminants found in various consumer products, such as drinking water, infant formula, and food, as well as in human biospecimens, including blood, urine, breastmilk, and cerebrospinal fluid. Previous evidence indicates that PFAS exposure poses significant neurotoxic risks, owing to their ability to penetrate the blood-brain barrier and bioaccumulate in neural tissue. The developing brains of fetuses and infants are...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

In the human brain, the alpha rhythm in occipital cortex and the mu rhythm in sensorimotor cortex are among the most prominent rhythms, with both rhythms functionally implicated in gating modality-specific information. Separation of these rhythms is nontrivial due to the spatial mixing of these oscillations in sensor space. Using a computationally efficient processing pipeline requiring no manual data cleaning, we isolated alpha and/or mu rhythms from electroencephalography recordings performed...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

An overreliance on proprioceptive (intrinsic) sensory input from the body, compared to visual (extrinsic) input from the environment, may underpin core features of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We developed an engaging videogame ("HaptiKart") as a tool to examine differences in sensory-motor bias (proprioceptive vs. visual) in children and adults with ASD and whether bias correlates with age, core autism features, and intellectual ability. Eighty-one participants (33 ASD, 48...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Beyond the hallmark social and sensory difficulties in autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the comorbid gastrointestinal (GI) conditions and their potential link to the severity of core symptoms require clinical attention. Although evidence indicates that autistic children face a greater risk of GI disorders and require more intensive nutritional management compared to neurotypical peers, standard guidelines for managing GI symptoms in this population remain lacking. This review seeks to pinpoint...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) differ in adaptive functioning, executive functioning, and the distribution of intellectual abilities compared to their typically developing (TD) peers. Research consistently demonstrates a link between executive functions and various aspects of adaptive behavior. This study aims to compare cognitive abilities, executive functions, and adaptive behavior in non- or minimally verbal preschool-aged (3-6 years) children with ASD (n = 53) and TD peers (n =...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

Eliciting parents' concerns about their child's development is a key component of developmental surveillance. Here, we aimed to examine whether parental concern about the child's development during the first year of life is associated with a later diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We compared prospectively collected data from medical records on parental concerns and children's developmental milestones at ages 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 months between 280 children later diagnosed with ASD and...

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

CONCLUSION: The results suggest that the clinical implementation of genetic testing in children with neurodevelopmental disabilities in the Medicaid-enrolled population was low in frequency compared with the eligible population with neurodevelopmental disorders. Further research could identify facilitators and barriers to the clinical use of genetic testing in this population.

Le Wed, 18 Jun 2025 06:00:00 -0400

CONCLUSION: RSV has shown promising effects on ASD, primarily through its influence on behavioral, neuromolecular, and neurodevelopmental mechanisms.