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 51 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• PTOTSLPPilot2025Pilot rural-urban comparison of health care experiences among autistic adolescents and young adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceRural autistic young adults faced more barriers to finding providers and getting dental care covered, but reported similar ease of access and provider communication as urban peers. This suggests local resource gaps, not poor care once found.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Curricular integration of augmentative and alternative communication for students on the autism spectrum in inclusive-oriented schools: A scoping review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAAC is rarely integrated into inclusive school curricula for students with autism. Most instruction happens in brief, one-on-one sessions outside the classroom, often by researchers or peers rather than teachers. This isolates communication support from academic learning and classroom participation.
• SLPQualitative2025From awareness to action: Facilitators and advocacy in healthcare by autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceFifteen autistic adults wanted providers to know autism, use plain language, and offer sensory or transport accommodations. They described self-advocacy through insurance calls, portal messages, and asking questions.
• OTSLPSurvey2025Caregiver concerns for autistic children differ between publicly funded educational and mental health settings: Findings from a community implementation-effectiveness trial.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCaregivers named aggression, social communication problems and attention problems among their top concerns. Mental health caregivers reported more aggression; school caregivers reported more social problems and repetitive behaviors.
• SLPQualitative2025'. . . there's so much within the work that we do where all we kind of need is the space and the safety': The experiences of Australian practitioners who support autistic survivors of sexual and domestic violence.Autism : the international journal of research and practicePractitioners supporting autistic survivors of violence emphasised that safety comes from adapting therapy to neurodivergent processing needs. They prioritised explicit communication, sensory accommodations, and validating experiences over standard trauma protocols, which often fail when clients struggle to identify internal states.
• OTSLPQualitative2025"There is nothing"-Exploring diagnostic and service access for autistic individuals in Uruguay: A qualitative study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceUruguayan caregivers described autism care as delayed and fragmented: doctors avoided naming autism, rushed diagnoses, and families travelled long distances. Services were often the same psychomotor and speech therapy mix, not tailored to each child.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Comparing trajectories of sport participation for autistic- and non-autistic-youth: A group-based multi-trajectory modelling approach.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic children were far less likely to join team sports, with gaps widening as they aged. However, their rates of individual sport participation matched non-autistic peers. This suggests individual sports may be a more accessible entry point for autistic youth.
• SLPCohort2025Alexithymic and autistic traits differentially predict personality disorder dimensions.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic traits predicted schizoid and obsessive-compulsive personality dimensions, while alexithymia predicted schizoid and borderline dimensions. Avoidant traits were linked to depression and anxiety, not autism or alexithymia. These overlaps suggest diagnostic assessments should distinguish between core conditions and co-occurring emotional processing difficulties.
• SLPQualitative2025'You feel part of something bigger': Stakeholders' experiences of a long-term community-academic participatory research partnership.Autism : the international journal of research and practicePartnership members valued shared inclusion goals and mutual learning but reported growing distress from fidelity checks and power imbalances. Early educators felt excluded from decision-making and reduced to data collectors. Trust eroded over time due to poor communication and staff turnover, threatening long-term sustainability.
• SLPQualitative2025'Sometimes I'm feeling baffled and they're probably feeling baffled': On the experiences of psychological therapists working with autistic people in a structured primary care service for anxiety disorders and depression.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceTherapists in standard anxiety services felt unprepared for autistic patients. They struggled to distinguish autism traits from symptoms and found time limits and rigid questionnaires obstructive. Adaptations like concrete language and environmental changes helped, but specific training was lacking.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2025Consolidating a framework of autistic camouflaging strategies: An integrative systematic review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults describe camouflaging as a conscious, learned skillset involving suppression, performance, and cognitive strategies like scripting. This effort causes significant strain and distress, often hidden from clinicians. Look for signs of exhaustion and inconsistency across settings rather than just social deficits.
• SLPRCT2025A randomized controlled trial into the effectiveness of a mobile health application (SAM) to reduce stress and improve well-being in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults using an unguided stress-tracking app for four weeks reported significantly lower perceived stress and higher mental well-being than those on a waitlist. However, 43% found the app itself stressful, and most users did not experience a clinically reliable change.
• SLPCohort2025What Is the Impact of Second Language Exposure and Intellectual Disability Status on Executive Function and Functional Communication Outcomes in Children and Adolescents With and Without Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)?Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchParents reported that children with autism who spoke a second language had better everyday executive function than those who did not. Functional communication scores showed no difference between language groups. The study found no evidence that bilingual exposure harms these outcomes.
• SLPQualitative2025Development of a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) outcome measure for clinical interventional studies in paediatric autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceClinicians and families prioritized goals like independence and safety over symptom reduction. A new Goal Attainment Scale was developed to track these personalized outcomes in autism trials, though its clinical utility requires further validation.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Sleep in Infants with Down Syndrome or Familial Likelihood of Autism in the First Year of Life.Journal of autism and developmental disordersParents of infants with Down syndrome reported fewer sleep concerns at 6 months despite objective data showing similar sleep patterns to controls. By 12 months, both Down syndrome and autism-likelihood groups showed less night sleep and more waking than controls, though concerns remained lower in Down syndrome.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2025A scoping review of current approaches to strengths-based transition practices for autistic adolescents.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceStrengths-based transition programmes for autistic teens generally fall into five types, like peer mentoring and career planning. A major gap is the lack of standardised tools to measure these strengths, meaning most studies rely on ad-hoc assessments rather than validated scales.
• OTSLPQualitative2025'We think differently, we learn differently, but at the end of the day we're not that different': Strengths-based approaches in high school from the perspectives of autistic adolescents.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSixteen autistic teens described school as most engaging when teachers understood their specific interests, such as coding or writing. They valued clear rules and future-focused career guidance. Generic social programs felt forced, while shared interests helped them build genuine peer connections.
• SLPCohort2025Hypothalamic volume is associated with dysregulated sleep in autistic and non-autistic young children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSmaller right hypothalamus volume was linked to more sleep problems in both autistic and non-autistic children. Externalizing symptoms partially explained this link. The total sleep questionnaire score showed no such association, highlighting the need for specific symptom assessment.
• SLPCohort2025Camouflaging in autism: A cause or a consequence of mental health difficulties?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceHigher camouflaging at baseline predicted a small decrease in mental health difficulties over two years. Mental health difficulties did not predict changes in camouflaging. The association is bidirectional but weak, suggesting camouflaging is not a simple cause of poor mental health.
• SLPCohort2025Emotional Arousal-Induced Episodic Memory Benefits Are Attenuated in Autism Spectrum Disorders, Especially in Older Age.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAdults with autism showed a smaller memory boost from high-arousal images than neurotypical adults. This gap for positive images widened with age, while depression reduced arousal ratings but did not explain the memory differences.
• SLPRCT2025How well can commonly used anxiety scales detect treatment outcomes in the context of autism?Autism : the international journal of research and practiceFor autistic children, the Child Anxiety Impact Scale (CAIS-P) total score accurately detects recovery from all anxiety diagnoses, unlike standard symptom scales. However, no questionnaire reliably predicts recovery from just the primary diagnosis, and the CAIS-P subscales do not work as expected.
• SLPOther2025Masking, social context and perceived stress in autistic adults: An ecological momentary assessment study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults reported masking less when alone and less around autistic adults than around non-autistic or mixed groups. They also reported higher stress when they masked more in the same 4 hours.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Incidence of developmental disorders and special educational needs and disabilities in children in the UK.Developmental medicine and child neurologyChildren born even one or two weeks before full term face higher odds of developmental disorders and special educational needs. This risk persists after accounting for deprivation and ethnicity, suggesting early term birth is not harmless.
• SLPCohort2025Associations between emotion and behavior codes and ADOS-2 scores in a sample of children referred for autism evaluation.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceOveractivity and disruptive behavior observed during ADOS-2 testing were associated with higher autism symptom scores in children with ASD. Anxiety was associated with higher social communication scores only in children without an ASD diagnosis. All associations were small in magnitude.
• SLPOther2025Is the Association Between Emotion Recognition and Social Functioning Mediated by Cognitive Empathy and Emotional Language? An Examination of School-Aged Autistic Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn autistic children, better emotion recognition linked to more peer initiatives on the playground only when mediated by cognitive empathy and emotional language. Parent reports of social skills did not correlate with these measures. Targeting empathy and emotion words may matter more than cue recognition alone.
• SLPSystematic Review2025Identifying and Describing Best Clinical Practices for Children and Adolescents With Complex Communication Needs: A Scoping Review of Healthcare-Based Interventions.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDROnly eight studies met criteria for clinical communication interventions for children with complex needs. Multimodal approaches combining AAC with naturalistic and parent strategies showed promise, while speech-only interventions failed. Findings apply mainly to autism, not other disabilities.
• SLPSurvey2025Psychometric Evaluation of Two Adult Autism Screening Tools in Brazil.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchTwo Brazilian adult autism questionnaires, including a women-specific version, tracked AQ-10 scores and self-reported autism, but they are not yet diagnostic tools.
• SLPCase-Control2025Sleep Spindle Abnormalities in Preschool Children With Autism Spectrum Disability: Insights From Nap Polysomnography.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchPreschoolers with autism showed higher sleep spindle amplitude and activity in frontal brain regions during naps compared to typically developing peers. These EEG differences were most pronounced in children with co-occurring developmental delay, suggesting naps can reveal neurobiological markers.
• OTSLPOther2026Measuring autistic burnout: A psychometric validation of the AASPIRE Autistic Burnout Measure in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn 379 autistic adults, the 27-item Autistic Burnout Measure worked best as one total score. It identified people who said they were burnt out better than a depression questionnaire.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Benign External Hydrocephalus in a Subgroup of Autistic Children Prior to Autism Diagnosis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchA subgroup of autistic children under two years old had benign external hydrocephalus and enlarged extra-axial cerebrospinal fluid. This pattern was rare in controls and resolved by age four. These findings suggest a specific early brain development issue in some autistic children.
• OTSLPCohort2025Characterizing the Relationship Among the Social Competence Elements in Autistic Adolescents.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn 243 autistic adolescents, face memory processing linked to social behavior and functioning primarily through theory of mind skills. This suggests that social difficulties may stem less from basic perceptual deficits and more from a lack of active cognitive engagement with social cues.
• OTSLPOther2025Bayesian prevalence of autism and unmet special education needs in Chile in a sample of three million school-age children.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceSchool records in Chile identified 0.46% of children with autism, but linking these to health records revealed a true prevalence of 1.31%. This suggests a large unmet need, with an estimated 25,903 autistic children not accessing school-based support services.
• PTOTSLPSystematic Review2025What are we targeting when we support inclusive education for autistic students? A systematic review of 233 empirical studies and call for community partnerships.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceResearch on inclusive education for autistic students overwhelmingly targets child skills, not environment. Social skills interventions were most common, while physical and sensory adaptations were rare. This gap limits true inclusion, as schools often fail to adjust the setting to support participation.
• OTSLPCohort2025Executive Function and Social Cognition Performance Predicts Social Difficulty for Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchExecutive function and social cognition both predict social difficulty in autistic adults, but independently. Neither mediates the other, so assessing and targeting these two domains separately is more useful than assuming they are linked.
• OTSLPRCT2025Effectiveness of a Parent Empowerment Program for Parents of Children with Autism: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Child: care, health and developmentParents of children with autism who received training plus motivational interviews reported higher self-efficacy and lower stress than those who did not. However, their perceived care burden did not significantly decrease. The intervention improved parents' confidence and stress levels but did not reduce the weight of daily caregiving duties.
• SLPCohort2025Comparison of Available Tools to Screen for Autism at 12 and 15 Months.Journal of developmental and behavioral pediatrics : JDBPAt 12 months, the FYI-L identified more children later diagnosed with autism than the ITC. At 15 months, the FYI-L and M-CHAT-R/F identified similar numbers. Screening mostly avoided false alarms, but many autism cases were missed and many who screened positive did not have autism.
• SLPOther2025Auditory and Semantic Processing of Speech-in-Noise in Autism: A Behavioral and EEG Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults judged sentences as accurately as non-autistic adults in quiet and noise, but their brains showed weaker early speech tracking and delayed semantic processing. They also did not flexibly adjust brain responses to different background noises.
• SLPSystematic Review2025A Call for Inclusion: Children With Intellectual Disabilities in Trauma Treatment Research.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDRChildren with intellectual disabilities were explicitly excluded from 61% of randomized trials testing PTSD treatments. Most studies did not report how many were screened out or why, leaving a large gap in evidence for treating trauma in this vulnerable population.
• OTSLPOther2025Consensus recommendations for usability and acceptability of mobile health autism screening tools.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceExperts and families agreed autism screening apps must use plain language, avoid stigmatizing words like 'abnormal,' and link directly to local early intervention resources. These design choices aim to reduce tech stress and improve access for underserved families.
• SLPPilot2025Cognitive-Behavior Therapy for Social Anxiety Does Not Increase Reports of Camouflaging Behavior in Autistic Adults: Results From an Exploratory Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults in this CBT group reported less social anxiety and avoidance. They did not report significantly more or less camouflaging on average. Those who improved most in anxiety also showed the largest drops in camouflaging.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2026The healthcare experiences of middle and older age autistic women in the United Kingdom.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceMiddle-aged and older autistic women described healthcare as exhausting and dismissive. Professionals often misread their autism as mental illness or ignored sensory needs. Women masked their difficulties to avoid conflict, leading to delayed diagnoses and avoidance of preventive screening like mammograms.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2025Perspectives and experiences of physical activity among autistic adults in middle adulthood.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults described avoiding exercise because trainers focused on weight loss and competition rather than their needs. Sensory environments like gym noise and lighting caused exhaustion and burnout. Trust was hard to build due to past trauma, leading many to prefer solitary activity over group classes.
• OTSLPOther2025Screen to Screen Versus Face to Face: Evaluating Telehealth Autism Diagnostic Assessments for Young Children in a Diverse Clinical Setting.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchA home telehealth assessment matched the in-person autism diagnosis for 19 of 21 children with limited words. It may help clinicians observe autism signs in familiar settings, but the sample was small and not all children were autistic.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2025Navigating family messaging: Qualitative experiences of Black caregivers of children with autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceBlack caregivers of autistic children described family messages ranging from denial and blame to supportive acceptance. Denial often manifested as treating the child as neurotypical, which caregivers noted could inadvertently minimize their need for specific accommodations and support.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Trajectory of Irritability in Autistic and Typically Developing Youth From Early Childhood to Adolescence.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic girls kept high irritability from early childhood to late adolescence, unlike autistic boys and all typically developing peers who improved. Higher early cognitive ability and lower adolescent psychopathology predicted better outcomes. This suggests monitoring irritability specifically in autistic girls is critical.
• PTOTSLPOther2025Quality of Life in Autistic Children: Discrepancies Between Self- and Caregiver-Proxy Reports and Associations With Individual Characteristics.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchCaregivers and autistic children disagreed significantly on quality of life. Autism and ADHD features predicted caregiver ratings but not child self-reports. Sensory and sleep difficulties predicted both. Do not assume caregiver proxy scores reflect the child's own experience.
• PTOTSLPCohort2025Characterizing Developmental and Behavioral Profiles in Developmental Synaptopathies to Inform Clinical Trial Endpoints.American journal on intellectual and developmental disabilitiesStandard IQ and autism tests often fail in children with severe intellectual disability because scores hit the bottom of the scale. Adaptive behavior measures like the Vineland worked for everyone, making them more reliable for tracking progress in clinical trials.
• SLPOther2025Assessing Anxiety in Autistic and Non-Autistic Youth: Validation of the German Parent Version of the Anxiety Scale for Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchThe German parent-report anxiety scale for autistic youth reliably identifies anxiety symptoms, with half of the autistic group scoring above clinical cut-offs. However, the scale's original four-part structure did not hold up, as the separation anxiety component failed to replicate in this sample.
• OTSLPQualitative2025Exploring behavioral dynamics: an in-depth analysis of adult students with disabilities.Frontiers in rehabilitation sciencesParents and teachers most often described introversion and communication patterns among students with disabilities, with aggression, attachment, empathy, envy, and inappropriate sexual behavior also reported. These are proxy reports, not treatment outcomes.
• SLPCase-Control2025Potential association between altered oral microbiota and oxidative stress in individuals with autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceChildren with autism showed distinct oral bacteria profiles and higher oxidative stress markers compared to typically developing peers. These differences were observed alongside reduced antioxidant gene expression. The study identifies a potential biological link but does not prove that altering oral health or microbiota improves autism symptoms.