risk factor – ASF Weekly Science Podcasts

A landmark study that uses brain organoids from different people with different genes associated with autism showed that the different genes act as roads that go on different journeys to the same destination. This will be an enormously important discovery for identifying targets to treat different autism symptoms across different genetic causes of autism and … Continue reading "Genetic pathw...

With the International Society for Autism Research underway and a new wave of misunderstanding about scientific evidence in autism, it’s time to think about what is science, how is it conducted, and why does it take so long? Who benefits from science and how? This is just the start, but gives a quick overview of … Continue reading "Why science?"

Are you the grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling, or half-sibling of someone with autism and wondered “what is the likelihood of autism in families, and the likelihood of comorbid conditions if I have a family member with autism?” Researchers at the AJ Drexel Autism Research Institute and Aarhus University in Denmark collaborated to calculate probabilities … Continue reading...

A few years after the start of the pandemic, and a couple of years into “recovery”, scientists are still disentangeling the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns and exposure. For example, is there an uptick in autism screen positives when pregnant mothers fell ill? Were there diagnostic disparities based on co-morbid conditions? Did autistic people feel better … Continue reading "Post-P...

What is the probability of having a future child with autism if you already have one or more? Families want to know. It helps preparation, planning, will hopefully improve early screening and supports. The Baby Siblings Research Consortium analyzed a bigger group of siblings compared to their 2011 numbers and found the recurrence pretty stable … Continue reading "Recurrence rates for familie...

This podcast provides updates on studies that help with prediction of an autism diagnosis – which is important for preparing for the future and for intervening early. First, a study that uses environmental factors to create an equation for the probability of a diagnosis following a combination of of non-genetic factors only which does a … Continue reading "How does autism prediction wo...

Sometimes when the autism community hears the words “genetics research”, it conjures up images of using genetics to eliminate people with autism. In fact, that’s not the goal of genetics research, nor is it even possible. Recently, several new studies were publish which illustrate how genetics can be used to help people understand their diagnosis, … Continue reading "Geneti...

Environmental exposures, including toxic chemicals, can contribute to the causes of ASD. But how do other environmental factors, like behavioral supports, work in the brain to improve behaviors associated with ASD? For this, you need a broad interpretation of the term “environmental” and an animal model so you can see the mechanism involved. Studies show … Continue reading "Envir...