September 05, 2022
- Another large cross-national study has found no support for the hypothesis that exposure to labor epidural analgesia can cause autism or ADHD in offspring. This paper adds to other research that found no connection between the two factors. A study published in JAMA Pediatrics two years ago caused a stir in the obstetric and anesthesiology community when it found a slighter higher risk of autism in infants born to mothers who received epidurals during labor.
- According to UCSF, approximately 50% of all mothers of children with autism had elevated levels of depressive symptoms over 18 months. Rates for mothers with neurotypical children were much lower (6% to 13.6%) over the same time period. Interestingly, the mothers’ higher symptoms of depression did not predict increases in their children’s behavior problems over time, including among families with a child with autism, who often experience a great deal of stress.
- A recent New York Times article states that summer heat waves can affect mental health. The report links rising temperatures with mental fatigue, aggression, and even higher rates of suicide. Scientists have not discovered why heat affects mental health and are not sure if heat itself can cause brain changes. For those susceptible to mental health issues, protecting yourself from heat exposure and staying hydrated is essential during a heat wave.
- Autism is often accompanied by differences in speech prosody, which is the musical quality of speech. Recent research has discovered that some differences in speech prosody in children with autism is consistent across languages. Specifically, this study examined English and Cantonese speakers. The study’s findings revealed that artificial intelligence was able to distinguish between an autistic speaker and a neurotypical speaker’s speech rhythms in both languages. This discovery falls in line with past research that suggests that individuals with autism demonstrate reliable differences in stress patterns, speech rate, and loudness of speech.
- Findings from a new study suggest that the non-invasive carboxyhemoglobin test offers a potentially promising autoimmunity and inflammatory biomarker to screen/subgroup ASD and monitor the treatment response to probiotics. The authors also propose that associations between autoantibodies, gut microbiome profile, serum oxytocin level, GI symptom severity, and ASD core symptom severity scores are specific to the usage of probiotic treatments in their study’s participants.
- PsychCentral has published a list of 11 social skills essential for teens with autism. These include initiating conversations, maintaining conversations, speaking up in a small group, making friends, understanding sarcasm, protecting one’s own personal space and boundaries, respecting other’s personal space and boundaries, navigating get-togethers, handling inappropriate treatment from peers, appropriate communication through texting, and social media related behaviors.
