June 13, 2022
Community Shares:
- New research from Sweden found evidence of an association between parental diagnoses of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and the development of autism in their offspring. Four separate complementary studies investigated the suspected connection using a nationwide population-based cohort accessing Swedish registers. The research team discovered that while a parental link between IBD and autism exists, it is more often associated with the mother. This maternal relationship suggests that the association could reflect the influence of a maternal genotype in the prenatal/intrauterine environment.
- According to a new study that relied on data from the 2016 to 2018 National Survey of Children’s Health, children with ASD (ages 11-17) who take part in a medical home have significantly lower odds of having unmet mental health needs. However, those same odds do not hold up for children with ASD ages 3-10. Overall, having a medical home was associated with lower odds of difficulty accessing needed mental health care and non-mental specialty care. Unlike the name suggests, a medical home is not an actual building. Instead, it is a primary care model that is patient-centered, comprehensive, team-based, coordinated, accessible, and focused on quality and safety.
- A new report from the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) details an investigation that analyzed the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the discontinuation rate of autism clinical trials. The report’s authors found that drug trials were six times more likely to be discontinued during the pandemic than behavioral, diagnostic, and nutritional trials. Compared to other areas of medical research, the overall discontinuation rate during the pandemic was notably lower in autism clinical trials.
- A Disability Scoop article calls attention to efforts made by disability rights advocates to push for extra services for special education students to make up for learning loss during the COVID-19 pandemic. If a school district did not fully implement required therapies and instruction during virtual learning, students on individualized education programs (IEPs) could be entitled to compensatory services. Additionally, if a student is eligible for compensatory services, these therapies and tutoring services must take place outside regular school hours. Due to this, some students could have their eligibility for special education services extended by a year or two after aging out of the public school system.
