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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 33 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPCohort2023Distinct social attention profiles in preschoolers with autism contrasted to fragile X syndrome.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchPreschoolers with autism and fragile X syndrome both showed reduced initial eye contact and less attention to social scenes than typical peers. However, children with fragile X looked at faces as much as typical peers did, while those with autism looked at faces significantly less.
• SLPSystematic Review2023A comparison of methods for measuring camouflaging in autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchSelf-report, parent-report, and discrepancy measures of camouflaging correlate moderately but are not interchangeable. Self-report captures internal effort; parent-report and discrepancy methods capture observable behavioral changes. Choose the method based on whether you need to assess subjective experience or external presentation.
• OTSLPCohort2023How do autistic people fare in adult life and can we predict it from childhood?Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchOnly 5% of autistic young adults lived independently, and many needed support from family or services. Childhood IQ and adaptive skills could forecast living situation and employment, but not mental health or friendships.
• SLPRCT2022Characteristics of children on the autism spectrum who benefit the most from receiving intervention in inclusive versus specialised early childhood education settings.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with autism who showed low attention to playful adults made fewer social gains in inclusive settings than in specialised ones. High social interest predicted better outcomes only in inclusive classrooms. No overall setting advantage was found for the whole group.
• PTOTSLPCohort2022Implementing the Get SET Early Model in a Community Setting to Lower the Age of ASD Diagnosis.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPImplementing the Get SET model in community pediatric practices lowered the average age of autism diagnosis to 22.9 months. Screening tool use rose from 15% to 74%, and referrals increased from 24% to 79%. However, only 22% of diagnosed children started ABA therapy.
• SLPOther2022Black Families' Experiences of Developmental Screening: Review of Well-Child Visits to Inform Enhanced Autism Spectrum Disorder Risk Assessment.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPFor Black children later diagnosed with autism, parents voiced developmental concerns in 62% of visits. Referrals were made in 53.5% of visits, and 10% of visits had parent-only concerns with no referral.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2023Autism-related language preferences of English-speaking individuals across the globe: A mixed methods investigation.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchMost autistic adults prefer identity-first language like 'autistic person' over 'person with autism'. They reject functioning labels and 'Asperger's' as harmful. Clinicians should ask each patient their preference rather than assuming a standard term.
• PTOTSLPOther2023Cardiovascular disease risk factors in autistic adults: The impact of sleep quality and antipsychotic medication use.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchPoorer sleep quality was associated with more cardiovascular risk factors and higher BMI in autistic adults, while antipsychotic use was linked to diabetes but not other risks. Perceived stress showed no association. These are cross-sectional correlations, not proof that treating sleep or stopping medication reduces cardiovascular disease.
• SLPCase-Control2022Altered frontal connectivity as a mechanism for executive function deficits in fragile X syndrome.Molecular autismResting EEG patterns in frontal areas differed in people with fragile X syndrome: stronger high-frequency and weaker low-frequency synchrony was linked to more distractibility and flexibility errors, even after accounting for general cognitive ability.
• SLPRCT2023An initial trial of OPT-In-Early: An online training program for caregivers of autistic children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCaregivers using the OPT-In-Early online program learned more intervention strategies and used them more effectively in brief interactions than those receiving usual care. However, no changes in children's observed social communication were found, and self-efficacy gains did not differ between groups.
• SLPCohort2023A comparison of self-report and discrepancy measures of camouflaging: Exploring sex differences in diagnosed autistic versus high autistic trait young adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchYoung adults with high autistic traits but no diagnosis scored higher on measures of effective camouflaging than those diagnosed. Self-reported intent to camouflage was similar across groups. This suggests masking effectively may delay diagnosis, particularly for males.
• SLPCohort2023An observational study of individual child journeys through autism diagnostic pathways, and associated costs, in the UK National Health Service.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesChildren in the UK NHS took an average of 375 days to receive an autism diagnosis, involving 11.5 hours of professional time. Costs averaged £846 per child. Tertiary centres and children with multiple co-occurring conditions required significantly more time and resources.
• SLPCase-Control2023Health conditions and service use of autistic women and men: A retrospective population-based case-control study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic women and men had more physical and mental health conditions and used more health services than adults without developmental disability, especially psychiatric care. Compared with other developmental disabilities, differences were smaller except psychiatric conditions.
• SLPCase Series2023Short report: A co-designed psychoeducation for older autistic adults-a multiple case study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceA co-designed psychoeducation program for older autistic adults did not significantly reduce the difference in insight between participants and their proxies regarding autism traits or cognitive failures. Most participants showed no reliable improvement on secondary outcomes, and the authors advise against implementation until the program is refined.
• OTSLPOther2022Brainstem white matter microstructure is associated with hyporesponsiveness and overall sensory features in autistic children.Molecular autismIn autistic children, higher sensory features linked to lower brainstem water diffusion, while non-autistic children showed the opposite. This suggests brainstem differences in autism are distinct from typical development. These findings do not yet change clinical interventions.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Multidimensional motor performance in children with autism mostly remains stable with age and predicts social communication delay, language delay, functional delay, and repetitive behavior severity after accounting for intellectual disability or cognitive delay: A SPARK dataset analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchMotor difficulties in children with autism remain stable from age 5 to 15. Poor motor performance predicts social, language, and functional delays even after accounting for intellectual disability. Therapists should screen for motor issues beyond early childhood and not assume delays resolve with age.
• SLPCase-Control2023A profile of prosodic speech differences in individuals with autism spectrum disorder and first-degree relatives.Journal of communication disordersAutistic adults and their parents showed subtle expressive prosody differences, particularly with stress and imitation, despite good receptive understanding. These traits track with symptom severity and social personality features, suggesting prosody is a genetically linked marker rather than just a downstream effect.
• SLPCase-Control2023Are autistic people disadvantaged by the criminal justice system? A case comparison.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults reported worse experiences with police than non-autistic peers, citing stress and noise. They were five times more likely to feel they needed an appropriate adult during questioning but did not receive one. Both groups struggled to access support.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Fine motor skill and expressive language in minimally verbal and verbal school-aged autistic children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn autistic children aged 4 to 7, better fine motor skills linked to clearer speech only in minimally verbal children. For all children, fine motor skills and adaptive behavior predicted longer utterances. Conversational turns depended on adaptive behavior alone, not motor skill.
• OTSLPOther2022Personal victimization experiences of autistic and non-autistic children.Molecular autismAutistic children were 7.77 times more likely to report bullying than non-autistic peers. Counterintuitively, autistic children with fewer social difficulties reported more bullying. Boys and girls experienced similar rates, but girls cited trouble with flexibility and emotions as causes, while boys cited social interaction challenges.
• OTSLPCase-Control2022Autism spectrum disorder symptom expression in individuals with 3q29 deletion syndrome.Molecular autismPeople with 3q29 deletion and autism had similar overall social and repetitive behavior scores to non-syndromic autism, but people without autism had more social disability than typical controls. Social disability can be present without an autism diagnosis in this syndrome.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Comparing autism phenotypes in children born extremely preterm and born at term.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren born extremely preterm with autism showed similar core symptoms to term-born children when observed directly. However, parents of preterm children reported fewer repetitive behaviors and stereotyped speech, a difference likely driven by lower rates of prior autism diagnosis in the preterm group.
• SLPCohort2023Longitudinal relations between autistic-like features and functional somatic symptoms in adolescence.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceA rise in autistic-like features did not predict a later rise in unexplained body symptoms, and vice versa. Still, adolescents with higher autistic-like features also reported more body symptoms.
• SLPCohort2022Patterns of connectome variability in autism across five functional activation tasks: findings from the LEAP project.Molecular autismAutistic individuals showed greater brain connectivity atypicality across five cognitive tasks compared to controls. This atypicality was consistent across tasks and linked to speech and auditory networks. It correlated with behavioral measures of autism severity, suggesting a common neural pattern underlying diverse cognitive demands.
• OTSLPSurvey2023Development of stigma-related support for autistic adults: Insights from the autism community.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMost autistic adults and caregivers who responded supported stigma help, but many warned it must not blame autistic people. They wanted flexible, positive support focused on self-acceptance, disclosure choices, and practical strategies.
• PTOTSLPCohort2022Racial/Ethnic Differences in Psychiatric and Medical Diagnoses Among Autistic Adults.Autism in adulthoodAutistic adults had more psychiatric and medical diagnoses than non-autistic adults, but Black, Hispanic, and Asian autistic adults received fewer psychiatric diagnoses than White autistic adults. These gaps likely reflect under-detection and access barriers rather than lower actual need.
• SLPSystematic Review2023Language and communication skills in multilingual children on the autism spectrum: A systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMultilingual autistic children showed no evidence of language disadvantage from multilingual exposure, but vocabulary findings were mixed. Twelve studies reported scores for only one language, so scores may miss words known across both languages.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2023Brain correlates of declarative memory atypicalities in autism: a systematic review of functional neuroimaging findings.Molecular autismBrain scans show autistic people often use different neural routes for memory, relying more on posterior and left-hemisphere areas than frontal ones. This explains why they may struggle with complex visual or social memory tasks while preserving verbal memory, suggesting therapy should leverage verbal supports.
• SLPOther2023Examination of the impact of the Get SET Early program on equitable access to care within the screen-evaluate-treat chain in toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceThe Get SET Early program achieved equitable access to autism care. Hispanic and minority-race toddlers were screened and evaluated at rates matching local demographics. Crucially, age at screening, evaluation, and therapy start did not differ by race or ethnicity, suggesting the program successfully removed access barriers.
• SLPCohort2023Children with autism exhibit similar longitudinal changes in core symptoms when placed in special or mainstream education settings.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn 121 preschool children with autism, core symptoms changed similarly in special and mainstream education. More children in mainstream moved to higher speech levels on the autism assessment, but detailed language scores did not differ.
• OTSLPOther2023Prevalence and treatment of mental, behavioral, and developmental disorders in children with co-occurring autism spectrum disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A population-based study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with both autism and ADHD have much higher rates of anxiety, depression, and conduct problems than those with either condition alone. Despite this, they receive behavioral treatment at similar rates to children with autism only, while nearly three-quarters take psychotropic medication.
• PTOTSLPCase-Control2023Psychological strengths and well-being: Strengths use predicts quality of life, well-being and mental health in autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults reported using their personal strengths less often than non-autistic adults. However, using strengths was strongly linked to better quality of life, well-being, and mental health in both groups. Interventions should focus on general strengths use, not just autism-specific traits.
• SLPQualitative2023Autistic young people's experiences of remote psychological interventions during COVID-19.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic young people found remote psychological therapy challenging but valued less intense social interaction and no travel. Three also found it positive, despite home distractions, reduced cues and technical issues.
• SLPOther2023Profiles of autism characteristics in thirteen genetic syndromes: a machine learning approach.Molecular autismAutism profiles on the Social Communication Questionnaire differed across thirteen genetic syndromes, but many overlapped enough that a model assigned 55% of people to the correct syndrome group. It is not a diagnostic test.
• OTSLPCohort2023Sex differences in the course of autistic and co-occurring psychopathological symptoms in adolescents with and without autism spectrum disorder.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn adolescents with autism, social communication difficulties were similar for males and females. However, autistic males showed more repetitive behaviors and resistance to change than females. Anxiety and depression increased in females but decreased in males, a pattern identical to those without autism.
• SLPPilot2023Consistency and reliability of automated language measures across expressive language samples in autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutomated language scores from autism samples stayed stable over four weeks but changed significantly depending on whether the child was narrating, conversing, or answering ADOS questions. Clinicians must compare scores only within the same task type, as a drop in complexity may reflect the setting rather than the child's ability.
• SLPCohort2023The Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Therapy Utilization Among Racially/Ethnically and Socio-Economically Diverse Autistic Children.Journal of autism and developmental disordersABA therapy hours for autistic children fell sharply in early 2020 and had not fully recovered a year later. School district funded children lost hours fastest. Asian children recovered hours more slowly than white children. These disruptions likely affected treatment progress.
• SLPCohort2023Prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in a large pediatric primary care network.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceDocumented autism was more common among Asian, Black, publicly insured, and urban-site children than among White, privately insured, and suburban or rural children, and median age at first documented diagnosis was 3.93 years.
• SLPCohort2023Transactional relationships between maternal requesting and responsivity, adolescent compliance, and task demands in fragile X syndrome.Research in developmental disabilitiesAdolescent compliance with maternal requests was not predicted by how direct the request was. Instead, compliance dropped when mothers issued a higher proportion of behavioral requests. This suggests that reducing the overall density of commands may be more effective for engagement than simplifying the language used.
• SLPCase-Control2023Sensory salience processing moderates attenuated gazes on faces in autism spectrum disorder: a case-control study.Molecular autismAutistic individuals looked less at faces during video scenes, but this difference disappeared once pupillary responses were accounted for. Higher early pupil dilation predicted less face viewing, suggesting sensory reactivity rather than social avoidance drives the gaze pattern.
• PTOTSLPCohort2023Variable patterns of daily activity participation across settings in autistic youth: A latent profile transition analysis.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMost autistic teens stay in low-participation groups at school and in the community from early to middle adolescence. Only 8% are active across all settings. Environmental supportiveness predicted participation more strongly than income or IQ, suggesting barriers matter more than ability.
• OTSLPRCT2023The earlier the better: An RCT of treatment timing effects for toddlers on the autism spectrum.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceToddlers who started intensive, individualized parent coaching at 18 months made larger gains in language, social communication and daily living skills than those who started the same coaching at 27 months. The effect was not seen for less intensive group education.
• SLPOther2023Impaired neurogenesis and neural progenitor fate choice in a human stem cell model of SETBP1 disorder.Molecular autismIn a stem cell model of SETBP1 disorder, loss of the gene caused neural progenitors to keep dividing instead of becoming neurons. This was driven by overactive Wnt signaling. Blocking Wnt with a drug restored normal neuron production and ventral brain cell fate.
• OTSLPCohort2023Short report: The role of oral hypersensitivity in feeding behaviors of young autistic children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceYoung autistic children with oral hypersensitivity showed more food acceptance problems and caused caregivers more negative feelings, but their mealtime behaviors and oral motor skills did not differ from non-hypersensitive peers. Screening for taste and texture sensitivity helps identify which feeding issues to target.
• SLPOther2023Sex differences in friendships and loneliness in autistic and non-autistic children across development.Molecular autismAutistic and non-autistic children defined friendship similarly, but age predicted complexity: older children described dependability and intimacy, while younger ones focused on companionship. All children who reported frequent loneliness had at least one friend, suggesting existing friendships may not prevent isolation.
• SLPOther2023Sex differences in social and emotional insight in youth with and without autism.Molecular autismAutistic girls rated as having better insight into social situations than autistic boys, but still lower than non-autistic girls. This pattern suggests girls may mask difficulties better than boys, making them harder to spot during standard assessments.
• SLPCase-Control2023Atypical functional connectivity of temporal cortex with precuneus and visual regions may be an early-age signature of ASD.Molecular autismNo overall brain connectivity difference between groups was found. In toddlers without ASD, language brain-region connectivity was linked to language and social scores. In toddlers with ASD, those links were absent, and unusual visual and precuneus links were found instead.
• OTSLPQualitative2023Factors influencing the mental health of autistic children and teenagers: Parents' observations and experiences.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents identified school environment and communication skills as critical for their autistic teenagers' mental health. Bullying, sensory overload, and rigid academic expectations worsened anxiety, while specialist schools with accepting peers and visual supports improved well-being. Lack of ongoing support services left parents feeling helpless.
• SLPOther2023Centering the Inner Experience of Autism: Development of the Self-Assessment of Autistic Traits.Autism in adulthoodAutistic-led researchers built a 58-item self-report questionnaire for people aged 16 and older. It asks about sensory, communication, routine, daily-life, and discrimination experiences in autistic people's own words. It is not yet tested as a clinical tool.
• SLPCohort2023Analysis of Noun Phrase Ambiguity in Narratives Reveals Differences in Referential Establishment But Not Cohesion for Older Autistic Children.Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHRAutistic adolescents were not more ambiguous than peers overall, but used more definite nouns and names before introducing characters. This suggests the difficulty is not tracking who is who, but assuming the listener already knows the referent.