TOPIC

Autism spectrum research

Everything we have read on autism spectrum. Each paper is summarised from the full article rather than its abstract, so the limitations are in there too, and the funding wherever the paper declares it.

2,764 PAPERS · PAGE 16 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPSurvey2020Quantifying compensatory strategies in adults with and without diagnosed autism.Molecular autismAdults with and without autism described multiple ways they manage social situations. Diagnosed adults reported more learned social rules, but diagnosis did not predict these strategies once autistic traits and education were considered.
• SLPCase-Control2020Reduced White Matter Integrity and Deficits in Neuropsychological Functioning in Adults With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAdults with autism had lower white matter integrity in long-range tracts and poorer cognitive scores than matched controls. The integrity measures did not track with cognition or symptoms, so they did not explain the deficits.
• SLPSystematic Review2020Definitions of Nonverbal and Minimally Verbal in Research for Autism: A Systematic Review of the Literature.Journal of autism and developmental disordersDefinitions of nonverbal and minimally verbal autism varied widely across intervention studies, often without clear measures. The reviewed studies were too inconsistent to combine.
• SLPOther2020An Acoustic Characterization of Prosodic Differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder and First-Degree Relatives.Journal of autism and developmental disordersListeners reliably picked out atypical intonation in autism, yet objective acoustic measurements of pitch variability and rhythm showed no group differences. Speech rate was the only acoustic feature distinguishing both individuals with autism and their unaffected parents with broad autism phenotype traits.
• SLPCase-Control2020Neural features of sustained emotional information processing in autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAdolescents with autism showed sustained brain activity in regions handling emotional salience and control for up to 30 seconds after seeing negative words. This neural persistence predicted emotion dysregulation, suggesting that negative reactions may continue internally long after the stimulus is gone.
• OTSLPOther2020Revised scored Sensory Perception Quotient reveals sensory hypersensitivity in women with autism.Molecular autismFemales with autism reported significantly more sensory hypersensitivity across all five senses compared to control females, but showed no difference in hyposensitivity. Mothers of children with autism did not report elevated sensory sensitivity compared to controls.
• SLPCohort2020Social brain activation during mentalizing in a large autism cohort: the Longitudinal European Autism Project.Molecular autismIn a large brain-imaging study, adults and children with autism showed the same brain activation as typically developing people when watching animations of moving shapes. The expected difference in the 'social brain' was absent, even though the task reliably activated these regions in everyone.
• PTOTSLPCohort2020Facilitating sensorimotor integration via blocked practice underpins imitation learning of atypical biological kinematics in autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults who struggled to imitate a novel, atypical movement learned it when they practised that single movement repeatedly in a block, rather than mixing it with typical movements. Blocked practice allowed them to encode the unusual timing, a skill that transferred to random testing.
• SLPOther2020The Witness-Aimed First Account (WAFA): A new technique for interviewing autistic witnesses and victims.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn mock crime videos, autistic and non-autistic witnesses who first named separate topics, then recalled each topic, gave more correct details and were more accurate than after standard free recall. Errors did not change.
• SLPQualitative2020'I never realised everybody felt as happy as I do when I am around autistic people': A thematic analysis of autistic adults' relationships with autistic and neurotypical friends and family.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults said spending time with autistic people was easier, less tiring and more accepting, while time with non-autistic people often felt effortful, anxious and pressured to mask.
• SLPOther2020Neural Correlates of Cardiac Interoceptive Focus Across Development: Implications for Social Symptoms in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchHeartbeat counting accuracy and insula brain response did not differ between ASD and typically developing groups. Across ages 8 to 54, insula response changed with age. In adults with ASD, stronger left posterior insula response tracked higher self-reported social symptoms; caregiver reports did not.
• OTSLPOther2020Observed emotional reactivity in response to frustration tasks in psychiatrically hospitalized youth with autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceHospitalized autistic youth showed more intense and longer negative reactions during frustration tasks than before them, then generally returned to baseline during recovery. Youth with little or no speech and lower adaptive skills reacted more strongly.
• OTSLPCohort2020Trajectories of emotional and behavioral problems from childhood to early adult life.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceEmotional, conduct and ADHD symptoms declined modestly from childhood to early adulthood in autistic people, but many still scored high on screening questions. Better everyday adaptive function was associated with faster declines in conduct and ADHD symptoms.
• SLPCohort2020How accurate are autistic adults and those high in autistic traits at making face-to-face line-of-sight judgements?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults were less accurate than neurotypical adults at judging where someone was looking, but both groups performed well above chance. Brief glances were no harder than prolonged stares for autistic adults. Autistic traits in the general population did not predict accuracy.
• SLPCohort2020Investigating Bullying as a Predictor of Suicidality in a Clinical Sample of Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAdolescents with autism who experienced bullying were nearly twice as likely to develop suicidal thoughts over five years. This risk remained significant after adjusting for demographics and clinical factors, highlighting bullying as a key predictor of suicidality in this group.
• SLPOther2020Gender Differences in Emotion Dysregulation in an Autism Inpatient Psychiatric Sample.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn hospitalized youth with autism, females had higher emotion dysregulation than males, but the difference was small. Both groups had high scores compared with general youth.
• SLPRCT2020Effects of oxytocin administration on salivary sex hormone levels in autistic and neurotypical women.Molecular autismAfter taking oxytocin nasal spray, testosterone levels rose in 11 of 16 autistic women but fell in 21 of 29 neurotypical women. This suggests autistic women may react to oxytocin differently than non-autistic women, potentially affecting how they respond to treatment.
• SLPCohort2020Expediting clinician assessment in the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder.Developmental medicine and child neurologyA brief, standardized 15-minute observation using the CARS-2 effectively distinguished children with autism from those without in a clinic setting. Scores of 16 or higher were highly specific for autism, offering a tool to expedite diagnosis and reduce wait times for specialists.
• PTOTSLPOther2020Structural validity of the mealtime behaviour questionnaire for children with autism spectrum disorder in Japan.Journal of physical therapy scienceA new 42-item questionnaire accurately groups mealtime problems in autistic children into five distinct areas: selective eating, manners, concentration, oral motor skills, and overeating. This structure helps therapists pinpoint specific causes of feeding difficulties rather than treating them as one single issue.
• SLPCase-Control2020A Six-Minute Measure of Vocalizations in Toddlers with Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchToddlers with autism produced more nonsyllabic vocalizations and fewer syllabic ones during a six-minute tablet task than typically developing children. However, these vocal patterns did not reliably distinguish autism from other developmental language delays in this small sample.
• SLPRCT2020Self-guided mindfulness and cognitive behavioural practices reduce anxiety in autistic adults: A pilot 8-month waitlist-controlled trial of widely available online tools.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults using self-guided online mindfulness and CBT tools showed large anxiety reductions at 3 months. However, the waitlist group also improved by 6 months, eliminating any advantage of the active treatments. These tools are acceptable for high-functioning adults but may not offer lasting benefit over time.
• SLPCohort2020The Association Between Parental Age and Autism-Related Outcomes in Children at High Familial Risk for Autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn high-risk siblings, parental age showed no clear link to social communication scores. Fathers under 30 were more likely to have a child with autism than fathers aged 30 to 34. Older fathers had higher child cognitive scores.
• SLPOther2020Developmental changes in attention to social information from childhood to adolescence in autism spectrum disorders: a comparative study.Molecular autismIn autism, eye gaze fell after around 10 years while mouth gaze rose; typical children showed the opposite pattern. In scenes with people and shapes, autistic children looked less at people than typical children did.
• SLPCohort2020Determinants of an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis in childhood and adolescence: Evidence from the UK Millennium Cohort Study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceOnly 21.4% of children with parent-reported autism in this UK cohort were diagnosed before school, and 27.9% after secondary school entry. Typical cognitive scores and absent early parental concern were linked to later diagnosis.
• SLPOther2020Creating Accessible Survey Instruments for Use with Autistic Adults and People with Intellectual Disability: Lessons Learned and Recommendations.Autism in adulthoodAutistic adults and people with intellectual disability often find standard survey questions confusing, anxiety-inducing, or culturally invalid. Researchers must adapt language, response options, and context with community partners to get accurate data, rather than relying on unvalidated general-population measures.
• SLPOther2020Inattention and hyperactive/impulsive component scores do not differentiate between autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in a clinical sample.Molecular autismInattention and hyperactivity scores do not distinguish autism from ADHD, as levels were similar in both groups. Social communication and repetitive behavior scores were higher in autism. Clinicians should screen for autism symptoms in children with ADHD, as co-occurrence is often missed.
• OTSLPCohort2020Developmental Trajectories of Adaptive Behavior From Toddlerhood to Middle Childhood in Autism Spectrum Disorder.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesChildren with autism showed gains in communication, daily living, and socialization skills from toddlerhood to middle childhood. Higher mental age at age two predicted faster skill growth. More perseverative errors on a cognitive flexibility task predicted slower growth in socialization skills.
• OTSLPOther2020Effectiveness of a modified group cognitive behavioral therapy program for anxiety in children with ASD delivered in a community context.Molecular autismCommunity-delivered CBT for anxiety in children with autism worked as well as hospital-based care. Parent-reported anxiety scores dropped significantly, and 90% of enrolled children finished the program. The study found no specific child characteristics predicted who improved.
• SLPSystematic Review2020Interventions to address health outcomes among autistic adults: A systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAdapted cognitive behavioral therapy and mindfulness had some support for reducing anxiety and depression in autistic adults without intellectual disability. Most other interventions, including medical treatments, had no established evidence.
• PTOTSLPRCT2020An Exploration of Health Behaviors in a Mind-Body Resilience Intervention for Parents of Children with Developmental Disabilities.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPParents of children with autism showed large reductions in fatigue despite minimal sleep increase, while parents of children with learning disabilities improved physical activity more. Both groups made small gains in healthy eating. The intervention helped fatigue and activity but did not significantly change sleep duration or diet.
• SLPCohort2020Automated recognition of spontaneous facial expression in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: parsing response variability.Molecular autismPeople with autism showed less lip-corner smile movement to funny videos than controls, but some smiled much more. Caregiver-reported impulsivity tracked with this variability.
• PTOTSLPCohort2020Prevalence and cumulative incidence of autism spectrum disorders and the patterns of co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders in a total population sample of 5-year-old children.Molecular autismIn a total population sample of 5-year-olds in Japan, autism prevalence was 3.22% and incidence was stable over four years. Critically, 88.5% of diagnosed children had co-occurring neurodevelopmental disorders, and 30% had received no prior services.
• SLPOther2020Toward an Individualized Neural Assessment of Receptive Language in Children.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRStandard EEG methods detected brain responses to word meaning in only about half of the children. A complex pattern-analysis method raised this detection rate to 88% for the high-end research system, but the low-cost portable headset failed to show similar improvement.
• OTSLPCohort2020Associations between autism symptom severity and mealtime behaviors in young children presented with an unfamiliar food.Research in developmental disabilitiesChildren with more severe autism symptoms took fewer bites of unfamiliar foods and requested less food, but showed less disruptive talk and table leaving. Parents gave more ineffective commands and fed them more. Parent-reported mealtime problems did not match clinician-rated autism severity.
• SLPPilot2020Improving Developmental Abilities in Infants With Tuberous Sclerosis Complex: A Pilot Behavioral Intervention Study.Infants and young childrenScores changed unevenly in five infants with tuberous sclerosis complex who completed a 12-week parent-mediated JASPER program, with controlled seizures and variable outside services such as speech therapy. This small single-group pilot cannot show JASPER caused the changes.
• SLPSurvey2020Gender identity, sexual orientation and adverse sexual experiences in autistic females.Molecular autismAutistic females were more likely than non-autistic females to report bisexual or homosexual orientation. Transgender identity did not clearly raise negative sexual experience risks within autism, but autistic homosexual females reported more regretted and unwanted sex.
• SLPCase-Control2020Neuroanatomical underpinnings of autism symptomatology in carriers and non-carriers of the 22q11.2 microdeletion.Molecular autismBrain scans showed autism symptoms in 22q11.2 deletion carriers related to different brain structure patterns than autism without deletion. The same symptoms did not map onto the same anatomy.
• OTSLPCase-Control2020Sex differences in the first impressions made by girls and boys with autism.Molecular autismAutistic boys made significantly worse first impressions than autistic girls, who were rated similarly to typically developing peers. Clinician ratings of social impairment correlated with first impressions in boys but not girls, suggesting girls may camouflage symptoms during brief interactions.
• OTSLPOther2020Defining clusters of young autistic and typically developing children based on loudness-dependent auditory electrophysiological responses.Molecular autismBrain responses to sound loudness clustered 213 children into four groups. Autistic children with hyper-responsive brains to loud sounds had more caregiver-reported distractibility. However, clusters overlapped heavily with typically developing peers, so neural patterns do not clearly separate diagnoses.
• SLPNarrative Review2020The sociability spectrum: evidence from reciprocal genetic copy number variations.Molecular autismGenetic deletions and duplications at specific chromosomal sites cause opposite social outcomes. Deletion of 7q11.23 causes Williams syndrome, marked by hypersociability with preserved language skills. Duplication of the same region causes autism-like traits with severe speech impairment. These findings describe genetic mechanisms, not treatment effects.
• SLPCase-Control2020Evidence against the "normalization" prediction of the early brain overgrowth hypothesis of autism.Molecular autismIn autism, total brain volume stayed larger than controls across childhood, adolescence and early adulthood, and did not shrink toward typical size with age. Larger brain size did not track symptom severity.
• SLPCase-Control2020A Metabolomics Approach to Screening for Autism Risk in the Children's Autism Metabolome Project.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchA blood metabolite test battery detected 53% of autistic toddlers and left 91% of typically developing toddlers negative. It is a research screening approach, not a clinical test, and needs prospective validation.
• SLPQualitative2020INSAR Special Interest Group Report: Stakeholder Perspectives on Priorities for Future Research on Autism, Sexuality, and Intimate Relationships.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchStakeholders prioritized research on supporting healthy relationships, comprehensive sexuality education, and preventing victimization. Autistic participants ranked understanding lived experience and identity higher than non-autistic stakeholders, who focused more on risk prevention. No interventions were tested.
• SLPOther2020Stability of Variables Derived From Measures of Multisensory Function in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesEye tracking measures of where children with autism look during speech tasks were highly stable. However, brain response measures and listening-in-noise scores varied greatly between sessions. Single-session data from these latter tasks may not reliably reflect a child's true multisensory processing.
• OTSLPQualitative2020"Having All of Your Internal Resources Exhausted Beyond Measure and Being Left with No Clean-Up Crew": Defining Autistic Burnout.Autism in adulthoodAutistic adults described burnout as long-lasting exhaustion, lost skills, and lower sensory tolerance after chronic stress and unsupported expectations. They named relief in accepting support, breaks, reduced masking, and accommodations.
• OTSLPOther2020Does decreased visual attention to faces underlie difficulties interpreting eye gaze cues in autism?Molecular autismAdolescents with autism struggled to identify what others were looking at, but not because they looked less at faces. Time spent looking at faces did not predict accuracy. Interventions targeting increased face looking may not improve understanding of gaze cues.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2020Placebo response in pharmacological and dietary supplement trials of autism spectrum disorder (ASD): systematic review and meta-regression analysis.Molecular autismAbout 20% of people with autism improved substantially on placebo alone in medication and supplement trials. Caregiver ratings showed larger placebo responses than clinician observations, suggesting expectations influence perceived progress more than actual symptom change.
• OTSLPOther2020Dissecting the phenotypic heterogeneity in sensory features in autism spectrum disorder: a factor mixture modelling approach.Molecular autismAutistic children and adults grouped into three sensory severity levels rather than distinct sensory patterns. The severe group had more social-communication, repetitive behaviour and adaptive functioning difficulties.
• SLPOther2020Development of the Signposting Questionnaire for Autism (SQ-A): measurement comparison with the 10-item Autism Spectrum Quotient-Child and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire in the UK and Latvia.Molecular autismA new 14-item parent questionnaire for autism signs separated diagnosed autistic children from those with other special needs and no difficulties in both the UK and Latvia. It tracks closely with an existing short autism screen, offering a quick way to spot key behaviours.
• SLPQualitative2021Hashtag who's missing? Lessons for genomic databases.Disability and health journalMany autistic people using #NotMssng rejected the idea that they were missing something and said research should focus on support, services, and including autistic voices.