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 46 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• SLPSystematic Review2025Remote microphone systems in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders: a scoping review.CoDASAcross eight small studies, children and adolescents with autism who used remote microphone systems showed improved speech perception in noisy classrooms. Other benefits like reduced stress and better social interaction were noted but require more research to confirm.
• OTSLPCohort2025What Is Distinctive About Autism Arising Following Severe Institutional Deprivation? A Direct Comparison With a Community Sample of Early Diagnosed Autistic People.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchPeople with autism arising from severe early deprivation show fewer social reciprocity issues but more odd language use than those with community autism. Their repetitive behaviours and co-occurring emotional problems match community autism levels. Clinicians should treat deprivation-related autism as standard autism.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2025Caregiver-identified strengths in children attending their first neurodevelopmental assessment: Findings from the Sydney child development research registry and development of a child strengths checklist.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCaregivers of children attending neurodevelopmental assessments identified an average of 2.8 strengths, ranging from cognitive and social skills to hobbies and character. Autistic children's caregivers more often cited cognitive strengths, while non-autistic caregivers more often cited social strengths.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Cognitive and Adaptive Functioning of CTNNB1 Syndrome Patients: A Comparison With Autism Spectrum Disorder and Cerebral Palsy.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRChildren with CTNNB1 syndrome performed worse than those with autism on non-verbal reasoning and daily living skills, but showed no significant group difference on overall adaptive functioning or verbal comprehension. Their profile is distinct, with relative verbal strengths and non-verbal deficits.
• OTSLPQualitative2025Incorporating Psychoeducational Care in the Autism Diagnosis Pathway: Experiences, Views, and Recommendations of UK Autistic Adults and Autism Professionals.Autism in adulthoodAutistic adults and autism service staff recommended that diagnostic services provide a debrief appointment, a group psychoeducation programme, curated information, and a report explaining the diagnosis and strengths. They also wanted disclosure advice, neutral language, and experts by experience.
• SLPSurvey2025Health and Health Care Access of Autistic Transgender and Nonbinary People in Canada: A Cross-Sectional Study.Autism in adulthoodAutistic transgender and nonbinary people in Canada report worse health, more unmet needs, and frequent misgendering than allistic peers. Many hide their autism during gender-affirming care assessments to avoid denial. Clinicians must treat these identities as separate and valid.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Comparative Analysis of Phenotypic and Genotypic Differences Between Individuals Affected by Regressive and Non-Regressive Autism: A Cross-Sectional Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with autism who lost skills showed lower IQ and daily living abilities than those who did not. Mental health scores were identical. Clinicians should anticipate greater cognitive and adaptive support needs for patients with a history of skill loss.
• SLPCase-Control2025Prenatal Maternal Alcohol Exposure During the First Trimester of Pregnancy in Relation to Early Learning Ability, Behavioral Problems, and Autistic Traits in Preschool Children With or Without Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchFirst-trimester alcohol exposure of 3+ drinks per week linked to more externalizing behaviors in children with and without autism. Lower exposure (1-2 drinks) associated with early learning delays and social communication deficits only in children with autism.
• OTSLPCohort2025Quality of life in caregivers of toddlers with autism features.Research in developmental disabilitiesFor caregivers of toddlers with autism features, parenting stress is the strongest predictor of poor quality of life, even before a diagnosis is confirmed. Higher income and better perceived family-centered care also predict higher quality of life, but family-centered care did not buffer the impact of stress.
• SLPOther2025Autism Digital Phenotyping in Preschool- and School-Age Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchOn a tablet app, autistic children aged 3 to 8 looked less at social parts of movies, moved their heads more, and faced the screen less than neurotypical children, while the bubble-popping game did not separate groups.
• SLPCohort2025Trajectories of autism symptom severity for boys and girls across childhood.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAcross childhood, autistic girls decreased in total autism severity and repetitive behaviors, while boys stayed stable. Some specific social behaviors improved for both, but boys also worsened in rapport and shared enjoyment.
• SLPOther2025Impact of imitation abilities on social communication in autistic children: evidence from an Early Start Denver Model intervention study.Molecular autismImprovements in imitation skills strongly predicted gains in social communication. ESDM improved imitation more than conventional therapy but showed no significant advantage for social communication overall. Older children benefited more from imitation gains than younger ones.
• SLPCohort2025Epidemiology of Alzheimer Disease and Related Dementia Among Medicare and Medicaid Enrolled Autistic Adults, 2011-2019.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchDementia was common in autistic adults aged 30 and older covered by Medicaid or Medicare, rising from 2.09% in 2011 to 8.11% in 2019. Mean age at first dementia claim was 59.3 years.
• OTSLPCohort2025Play interactions of autistic preschoolers with their mothers and fathers without toys yield more positive interactions than play with toys.Autism : the international journal of research and practicePlay without toys yielded higher emotional availability than play with toys for both mothers and fathers of autistic preschool boys. Fathers were as emotionally available as mothers, and children were more responsive to fathers during toy-free play. These are observational comparisons, not evidence of improved outcomes.
• SLPQualitative2025Sacrifice, uncertainty, and resilience: Qualitative study of U.S./Mexico border mothers of autistic children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMothers described constant comparison with U.S. services. Long, costly diagnosis, family disagreement, and citizenship status pushed some to risk crossing. They sought help for language and behavior.
• SLPOther2025Linguistic and Musical Syntax Processing in Autistic and Non-Autistic Individuals: An Event-Related Potential (ERP) Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults answered sentence and music questions as accurately as non-autistic peers, but their brains took longer and used fewer resources to process syntax in both domains. This suggests intact knowledge but inefficient real-time integration.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2025Caregiver behavioral changes mediate the effects of naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions: Combining evidence from three randomized controlled trials.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCaregivers trained in naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions significantly improved their strategy use, but the intervention did not produce a significant overall reduction in child social communication symptoms. Changes in caregiver behavior mediated child outcomes, though this finding weakened when accounting for measurement error.
• OTSLPCohort2025Beyond the Label: Antipsychotic Prescribing Practices at a Paediatric Neurodisability Service in Australia.Child: care, health and developmentIn 147 children with neurodisability, most antipsychotic prescriptions were for challenging behaviours, not psychosis. Risperidone was common, often off-label, and most prescribing encounters also included another psychotropic drug. This paper does not show whether medicines worked.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Missed Early Intervention Opportunities for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchOnly 15% of preschoolers with autism received early intervention services before age 2. The strongest predictor of timely access was an autism diagnosis before age 2, alongside higher socioeconomic status and low birth weight. Most children missed the critical window due to diagnostic delays.
• SLPCase Series2025The effects of the DHACA method on expressive communication in children with autism spectrum disorder.CoDASAfter 20 weekly speech therapy sessions using the DHACA picture book method, seven of twelve nonverbal children with autism began using verbal communication. The other five remained nonverbal, though most showed some improvement in specific expressive skills.
• SLPCase-Control2025Multisensory Integration of Naturalistic Speech and Gestures in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults understood noisy speech with gestures as well as neurotypical adults did. However, their brains processed this information differently, using additive rather than integrated neural mechanisms. This suggests behavioral competence does not require typical multisensory integration patterns.
• PTOTSLPRCT2025The moderating role of co-occurring attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder in social skills group training for autistic children and adolescents.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceKONTAKT social skills training helped most autistic adolescents and children without ADHD, but not children with co-occurring ADHD. In that subgroup, standard care alone produced higher response rates than the training.
• SLPOther2025Screening for Avoidant/Restrictive Food Intake Disorder Symptoms Among Autistic Adults: Measurement Invariance With a Comparison General Sample.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchThe Nine-item ARFID Screen works the same way for autistic adults as it does for the general population. Autistic adults reported significantly higher scores for picky eating, low appetite, and fear of eating consequences than general population adults.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Associations of Down Syndrome with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention Deficit/ Hyperactivity Disorder Among Children and Adolescents.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with Down syndrome were five times more likely to have autism and nearly two times more likely to have ADHD than children without it. Girls with Down syndrome showed a much stronger link to autism than boys did. These findings support routine screening for both conditions in this group.
• SLPQualitative2025"I'm not feeling alone in my experiences": How newly diagnosed autistic adults engage with a neurodiversity-affirming "Welcome Pack".Autism : the international journal of research and practiceNewly diagnosed autistic adults valued the "Welcome Pack" for reducing isolation through shared stories and fostering self-compassion. However, they identified significant gaps in practical support, specifically requesting guidance on workplace advocacy, unmasking strategies, and direct peer connection.
• SLPCohort2025Self-reported masking in sexual minority and heterosexual autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSexual minority autistic adults reported slightly more masking than heterosexual autistic adults. The difference was small and driven by assimilation and compensation strategies rather than direct concealment. Clinicians should recognize that sexual minority status is associated with increased social camouflaging.
• SLPCohort2025Factors Associated With Length of Hospital Stay for Forensic Psychiatric Inpatients With Intellectual Disabilities.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDInpatients with intellectual disabilities stayed an average of 2053.9 days. Older age, psychological therapy, and positive behavioural support were linked to longer stays, while autism and ADHD diagnoses were linked to shorter stays. Health scores improved over time.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Chronic Physical Pain in Children With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder in the United States: Findings from the 2016 - 2021 National Survey of Children's Health.Journal of autism and developmental disordersChildren with autism have higher rates of chronic pain and headaches than their peers, even after adjusting for other health conditions. This association holds across ages and regions, but pain severity or type did not link to autism severity or current treatments.
• SLPQualitative2025'Accumulating harm and waiting for crisis': Parents' perspectives of accessing Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services for their autistic child experiencing mental health difficulties.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents described autistic children accumulating trauma and worsening mental health while waiting for CAMHS. Almost half of those who sought help were rejected for assessment, and only 9% felt their child improved after contact with CAMHS.
• SLPRCT2026Social Responsiveness as a Mediator in Adapted Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Autistic Youth with Maladaptive and Interfering Anxiety.Journal of autism and developmental disordersAdapted CBT reduced anxiety in autistic youth partly by improving their ability to connect socially. This suggests that teaching specific social skills, such as joining games or starting conversations, is a key active ingredient alongside standard exposure techniques.
• SLPPilot2026Evaluation of a Supervisor Toolkit to Support Autism Provider Use of Pivotal Response Training.Journal of autism and developmental disordersSupervisor training improved coaching for some staff but not others. Providers showed better use of difficult PRT components after feedback, though overall fidelity remained low and varied widely.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Effective Autism Classification Through Grasping Kinematics.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchA machine learning model classified autistic from non-autistic young adults with 84% to 89% accuracy using only thumb and finger movement data. This suggests grasping kinematics could serve as an objective diagnostic marker, though it requires validation in children.
• OTSLPCohort2026Co-occurring Conditions and Quality of Life in Autistic Children Attending General Education or Special Education Schools.Journal of autism and developmental disordersAutistic children in special education had more co-occurring conditions than those in general education. School type alone did not predict quality of life. However, special education students with externalizing conditions had lower quality of life than expected, suggesting their specific needs may not be met there.
• OTSLPRCT2026Mixed Methods Findings from a Stepped Wedge Hybrid Implementation Trial of ATTAIN NAV: A Mental Health Family Navigation Intervention for Autistic Youth.Journal of autism and developmental disordersStandard family navigation for autistic youth without added messaging or dashboards gave caregivers higher satisfaction, faster first mental health appointments, and greater child behaviour improvements than technology-enhanced navigation. Technology-enhanced navigation produced more contacts and referrals.
• SLPCohort2025Estimated Nutrient Intake and Association With Psychiatric and Sleep Problems in Autistic Youth in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive DevelopmentSM Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn autistic youth, after checking many tests at once, estimated nutrient intake showed no links to psychiatric or sleep scores. Exploratory results suggested low vitamin C and combined low vitamin B6, vitamin C, and iron intake may be linked to clinical-range symptoms.
• SLPQualitative2025'Am I gonna regret this?': The experiences of diagnostic disclosure in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults diagnosed in adulthood described disclosure as a risky conversation. They shared it to access support, be themselves, or challenge stigma, but disbelief and stigma could leave them doubting their diagnosis and avoiding services.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2026"What My Son Needs Is Me. What I Need Is... Guidance": Caregiver Perspectives About Early Autism Supports Amid Changing Attitudes and Policies.Journal of autism and developmental disordersCaregivers valued supports that reduced their mental load and respected their child's identity over specific skill goals. They felt let down by rigid systems and unhelpful advice, preferring therapists who offered practical help and emotional validation.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Accessibility of Childcare Services for Children With Disabilities Aged 0 to 5 Years: A Scoping Review of Promising Solutions.Child: care, health and developmentChildcare accessibility research focuses almost entirely on social support and autism, leaving physical environment changes and other disabilities largely unexamined. Most solutions combine multiple interventions, so specific component effects remain unclear. Clinicians should advocate for broader research into environmental adaptations and non-autism populations.
• SLPOther2025A cross-cultural examination of bi-directional mentalising in autistic and non-autistic adults.Molecular autismJapanese non-autistic adults showed no difficulty interpreting animations made by Japanese autistic adults. UK non-autistic adults did show lower accuracy for animations made by UK autistic adults, so the mismatch effect was not stable across cultures.
• OTSLPQualitative2025Co-designing a novel service delivery pathway to increase access to autism identification and care within a non-profit community organization serving culturally and linguistically diverse families.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCommunity providers and caregivers shaped a new autism care pathway through five priorities: respecting diversity, caregiver choice, accessibility, reducing stigma, and feasibility. These insights guided the creation of a culturally adapted workbook and training tutorial for non-specialist providers.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Sensitivity and Specificity of Developmental Surveillance and Autism Screening in an Australian Multicultural Cohort: The Watch Me Grow Study.Journal of autism and developmental disordersNo single screening tool or combination accurately identified developmental concerns in this multicultural cohort. The most sensitive approach missed 9 children, while tiered systems missed up to 21. Specificity remained low, risking over-referral. Repeated surveillance with clinician input is necessary for reliable detection.
• SLPQualitative2025Time to Listen: Engaging Latino Autistic Adults and Parents as Partners in Advancing Autism Research.Journal of autism and developmental disordersLatino autistic adults and parents in a Texas border community said research participation felt more possible when materials used both English and Spanish, trusted people like teachers shared the invitation, and contact came by print as well as online.
• PTOTSLPOther2025A Further Characterisation of the Neuropsychological Profile, Social Perception, and Academic Skills in Sotos Syndrome.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRChildren with Sotos syndrome show a distinct cognitive profile: relative strength in facial memory but significant weakness in rapid speech, visuospatial construction, and mathematics. Social perception skills were not specifically impaired compared to other domains, despite high rates of autism comorbidity.
• SLPQualitative2025The impact of state policy on early autism diagnosis: A qualitative investigation.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceExperts identified state policy gaps as primary drivers of delayed autism diagnosis. Screening mandates are inconsistent, insurance requirements restrict diagnostic providers, and Medicaid reimbursement rates create significant access barriers. These systemic factors, rather than clinical practice alone, dictate how quickly families receive evaluations and services.
• SLPOther2025Assessing Autism Co-Occurrence in Fragile X Syndrome: Proposing a Preliminary CARS-2 Cut-Off Score.Journal of autism and developmental disordersStandard autism rating scales classify far fewer people with Fragile X as autistic than observational assessments do. A lower cut-off score on the rating scale improved agreement with the observational tool, but these findings are preliminary and require validation in larger, more diverse samples before changing clinical practice.
• SLPCohort2025Changes in Early Aperiodic EEG Activity Are Linked to Autism Diagnosis and Language Development in Infants With Family History of Autism.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchInfants with a family history of autism showed reduced brain activity at 3 months. Greater increases in this activity by 12 months linked to later autism diagnosis and lower language scores at 18 months, independent of cognitive ability.
• SLPOther2025Reduced relationship-specific social touching and atypical association with emotional bonding in autistic adults.Molecular autismAdults with autism allowed smaller touchable body areas for most social network members and reported less pleasant touch from several members. Their emotional bonding was more strongly associated with how much of their body they allowed to be touched, especially legs, torso and crotch.
• PTOTSLPRCT2025Cannabidiol (CBD) Treatment for Severe Problem Behaviors in Autistic Boys: A Randomized Clinical Trial.Journal of autism and developmental disordersPurified CBD did not significantly reduce problem behaviors compared to placebo in boys with severe autism. Both groups improved, with a strong placebo effect observed. Safety was acceptable, but the study found no global benefit over placebo for the primary outcomes.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2025Mothers' Ideas About Causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Differences Over Time and by Household Experience with ASD.Journal of autism and developmental disordersMothers of children with autism were more likely to blame biological causes like genetics or vaccines, while those without autism blamed lifestyle or diet. Over 13 years, belief in vaccines causing autism decreased, while belief in genetics increased.
• OTSLPCohort2025Prospective Memory Performance of Autistic Adults in Everyday Life: The Role of Stress and Motivation.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults completed everyday memory tasks at the same rate as non-autistic adults, despite reporting higher daily stress. The tasks were self-selected or simple text-message cues, which may have made them easier than standard lab tests. This suggests everyday planning difficulties may stem from context, not core memory deficits.