Can Hug Machines Help Children with Autism Use Public Transportation?
Deep Pressure Provides a Calming Effect on People with ASD Last month, SafeMinds Shares included a report on research which demonstrated the calming effects that an inflatable arm hug machine provided children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Interestingly, follow up research has already been published that investigates the use of portable hug machines on public […]
Neuroplacentology: the Study of Connections Between the Placenta and Brain Disorders
New Area of Research Could Be Important for Autism Spectrum Magazine recently published a fascinating interview with Anna Penn, an associate professor of pediatrics at Columbia University who coined the term “neuroplacentology ” a decade ago. Simply put, neuroplacentology is an emerging research area which explores the influences of the placenta on normal and pathological […]
Prenatal Maternal Autoimmune Disease Linked to a 16% Increased Risk of Mental Disorders in Offspring
Common Maternal Autoimmune Diseases Include Type 1 Diabetes, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, and Psoriasis A group of international researchers recently set out to answer the question, “Is prenatal maternal autoimmune disease associated with an increased long-term risk of mental disorders in offspring?” The study’s authors began their research by acknowledging that maternal immune activation […]
The Catastrophic Combination of Autism, Poverty, and Race on Health Outcomes
New Report Finds Over Half of Children with ASD Live in Low-Income Households The Autism Intervention Network on Physical Health (AIR-P), a subdivision within UCLA Health’s Department of Medicine, has released a report examining the intersection of autism, poverty, and race/ethnicity. The report specifically looked at how this combination impacts health and health care of […]
A Down Syndrome Advantage in Special Needs Parenting?
Study Finds that Marriages Dealing with Down Syndrome Have Less Stress than Marriages Managing Autism Parenting a child with any type of developmental disability is generally recognized as a situation which causes varying levels of stress on mothers and fathers. Recently, new research has investigated how this additional stress affects special needs parents’ marriages. In […]
Increased Cancer Risk Before Age 30 Identified in Some Individuals with Autism
Risk Linked to Those Who Have Co-Occurring Intellectual Disability and/or Birth Defects A study out of Sweden has discovered that individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) who have comorbid intellectual disability (ID) and/or birth defects were at a higher risk of developing cancer in early life (before age 30) compared to those without ASD. This […]