
High-Functioning Children with ASD in Public Schools Are More Likely to Be Bullied
New Study Examines Neurodevelopmental Disorders and the Risk of Bullying Exposure Children with a diagnosis of neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) are more often bullied than neurotypical children. Exposure to bullying can cause both emotional and behavioral challenges. The aim of a newly published study was to understand which factors may modify the relationship between NDDs and […]

Adapted Social Skills Program Improved Social Knowledge, Responsiveness, and Engagement
16-week PEERS® Program Aided Young Adults with ASD and/or Mild Intellectual Impairment PEERS®, the Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills, is a 16-week evidence-based, parent/caregiver-assisted social skills training program. The program aims to teach adolescents and young adults on the spectrum to make and keep friends, develop and maintain romantic relationships, as […]

Eye Contact is Not Necessary for Joint Attention According to New Research
Finding Raises Question If Children with ASD Actually Have Joint Attention Deficits The ability to achieve joint attention is fundamental to a child’s development. It is a critical step that encompasses learning about environments, supporting language development, and object word learning. Joint attention has long been assumed to be impaired in children with autism, but […]

Approximately 1 in 30 Children and Adolescents in the United States Have Autism
New Study Reports that ASD Rates Jumped More Than 50% from 2017 to 2020 A recent research letter published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that the overall autism spectrum disorder (ASD) rate for American children ages 3 to 17 in 2019 and 2020 has risen to 3.14%. When separating data by year, the results show the […]

2 New Studies Link Mother’s Blood to a Specific Type of ASD
Research from the MIND Institute Focuses on Maternal Autoantibody-Related Autism One of the immune system’s most critical functions is to distinguish between organisms that are self and non-self. If this determination process malfunctions, the body may form proteins called autoantibodies. In simple terms, autoantibodies are antibodies that attack the body’s own tissues, cells, or cell […]

Can Exposure to Cooking Oil Fumes in Pregnancy Be Linked to Autism-Like Behaviors in Preschool Children?
New Research from China Suggests It Can A team of Chinese researchers found that maternal cooking oil fumes (COF) exposure during pregnancy was associated with the presence of autism-like behaviors in their offspring by the time they reach preschool. The authors also discovered that the association depended on a dose-response relationship between the frequency of […]