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 53 OF 56 · NEWEST FIRST

• OTSLPSurvey2026Exploring auditory perception experiences in daily situations in autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults, whether clinically diagnosed or self-identifying, reported significantly more difficulty understanding speech in daily life compared to non-autistic adults. These speech difficulties were worse than challenges with locating sounds or judging sound quality, suggesting a specific barrier to communication that standard hearing tests may miss.
• SLPMeta-Analysis2025Eye Tracking as a Treatment Monitoring Tool for Autism: A Multilevel Meta-Analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchEye-tracking measures showed small, significant changes after autism interventions, suggesting they can track treatment effects. However, baseline eye-tracking did not significantly predict later developmental gains, meaning it cannot currently be used to forecast how well a specific child will respond to therapy.
• SLPOther2026Applying the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health to speech-language pathology social communication interventions for autistic children and youth: A scoping review.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAcross 21 SLP social communication studies for autistic children, interventions mapped to ICF participation and environmental factors, but none cited the ICF, none included participants over 12, and the review reports content, not effects.
• OTSLPCohort2026Traumatic Experiences, Psychological Distress and Suicide-Related Behaviors in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults were more likely to report self-harm, suicide plans, and attempts than non-autistic adults, even after accounting for trauma and other conditions. Higher lifetime trauma was associated with these outcomes in both groups. Childhood victimization and lack of support were frequent co-occurring factors.
• SLPCase-Control2026Prevalence of OSA Risk and Bruxism in Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with autism scored higher risk of sleep apnea on a parent questionnaire, but that difference was no longer seen after accounting for cognitive and behavior symptoms. No increase in teeth grinding was found.
• SLPOther2025The impact of camouflaging autistic traits on psychological and physiological stress: a co-twin control study.Molecular autismAmong autistic and non-autistic twins, masking autistic traits was linked to higher long-term hair cortisol between individuals and to more stress symptoms in adults. Within twin pairs, differences did not persist, so shared family background may explain it.
• SLPCohort2025Transdiagnostic similarities and distinctions in brain networks associated with autistic social impairments: a prospective cohort study.Molecular autismBrain scans of children with Noonan syndrome and autism predicted social impairment severity. A model built on autism data worked for Noonan syndrome. This suggests shared brain network patterns, but it is a research finding, not a clinical test.
• SLPCohort2026Psychiatric Emergency Visits of Autistic Adults With or Without Documented Borderline Personality Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults with documented borderline personality disorder had more psychiatric emergency visits and were far more likely to present with suicidality. However, they were no more likely to be admitted, restrained, or discharged with a plan than those without this diagnosis.
• OTSLPSurvey2026Exploring Alexithymia, Uncertainty, Anxious Arousal, and Social Anxiety as Mediators of the Relationship Between Sensory Processing Differences and Restricted and Repetitive Behaviors in Autistic Adults.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchIn autistic adults, sensory differences link to repetitive motor behaviors through anxious arousal and to insistence on sameness through intolerance of uncertainty. Social anxiety was not a mediator. Clinicians should assess these specific anxiety facets rather than assuming general social anxiety drives repetitive behaviors.
• OTSLPCohort2025Exclusion and Truancy of Autistic Adolescents in a UK Population Representative Sample.Child: care, health and developmentIn this UK sample, 25% of autistic 14-year-olds had been excluded from school and 15% reported truanting. Higher externalising behaviour scores were strongly linked to both exclusion and truancy, while other factors showed weaker or unexpected associations.
• OTSLPRCT2025Effects of Metformin on children with Fragile X Syndrome: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.Molecular autismMetformin did not significantly improve overall behavior compared to placebo, which was the main goal. However, it did significantly reduce hyperactivity and improve sleep problems in boys with Fragile X Syndrome. Safety was similar to placebo, with no serious side effects reported over six months.
• PTOTSLPOther2025UBE3A stabilization of β-catenin preserves synaptic proteins essential for motor and cognitive functions in Angelman Syndrome.Molecular autismIn mice modeling Angelman syndrome, a lithium diet improved motor coordination and memory by stabilizing beta-catenin. However, lithium worsened memory in healthy control mice. This is preclinical evidence for a new drug target, not a treatment recommendation for humans.
• SLPSurvey2026Associations between child characteristics and parent response to emotion differ in young children with and without an autism diagnosis.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents of young autistic children reported slightly more supportive and less non-supportive responses to child negative emotions. Parents of undiagnosed children with more autism traits reported the most non-supportive and distress responses, so families may need emotional support without assuming diagnosis causes better parenting.
• OTSLPSurvey2026Understanding autistic identity contingencies: The chain mediation effect of autism acceptance and loneliness in ableist microaggressions and social camouflage.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults in Japan who experienced more ableist microaggressions reported more camouflaging. Lower external acceptance and higher loneliness were associated with assimilation.
• SLPCohort2026Transgender and gender-diverse autistic adolescents are at elevated risk of depression.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceIn autistic adolescents, being transgender or gender-diverse is a strong predictor of depression. The risk was higher than that associated with family history, ADHD, or sleep disturbances. Clinicians should monitor for depression in this group, even if other risk factors are absent.
• SLPOther2025Intervention characteristics and speech therapy strategies in care for autistic children in health services: a scoping review.CoDASMost speech therapy studies for autistic children in Brazil report play-based and protocol/questionnaire methods, and most were done in university clinics. Parental guidance and community-based care were rare, so the picture is mainly clinic-based, not everyday services.
• SLPCohort2026The impact of individual factors on linguistic alignment of autistic boys and their mothers.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic boys and their mothers matched each other's words more than chance, but did not match sentence structures. Mothers aligned more with sons who had better expressive language and with sons who had fragile X syndrome.
• PTOTSLPNarrative Review2026Exploring the autism and functional neurological disorder association: Considerations from biopsychosocial, neuropsychological and computational models.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceThis theoretical review links autism and functional neurological disorder through shared traits like sensory overload and difficulty identifying emotions. It suggests clinicians should screen for autism in FND patients to avoid misdiagnosis, but offers no tested interventions or outcome data.
• SLPQualitative2026'Breaking down a barrier': Autistic young people see virtual reality as a possible social support, but not a substitute for in-person interactions.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic young people see VR as a safe 'first step' for high-stakes interactions like dates or interviews, because it filters sensory noise and allows control over appearance. However, they reject VR as a substitute for in-person contact, citing missing non-verbal cues and safety concerns.
• SLPOther2026Listening in a noisy world: The impact of acoustic cues and background music on speech perception in autism.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic adults understood speech in noise less accurately overall. With both voice and location cues, their accuracy matched non-autistic adults. Background music lowered accuracy overall, with the clearest drop in non-autistic adults when both cues were present.
• SLPCohort2026Transdiagnostic Behavioral Phenotypes and Comorbid Gastrointestinal Symptoms in Neurodevelopmental Disorders: An Exploratory Study.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchParticipants aged 6 to 21 grouped into six behavior clusters that crossed autism, ADHD and typical development diagnoses. Gastrointestinal symptoms, especially constipation, were linked with severe social communication deficits and repetitive behavior, not diagnosis alone.
• SLPOther2026An Examination of Racial Bias in Scoring the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) Module 3: An Item Response Theory Analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchClinicians rated Black/African American and Asian children as showing slightly more autistic behaviors than White children with similar autism levels on three ADOS items. However, these items do not affect the final autism classification score, so the bias had negligible impact on diagnosis.
• SLPSystematic Review2025A systematic review of statistical learning in autism spectrum disorder.Molecular autismAcross 37 autism studies, autistic people generally performed like non-autistic people on behavioral pattern-learning tests. Brain imaging results were inconsistent, so this review does not show a universal learning deficit.
• SLPCohort2025Early developmental trajectory phenotypes for risk stratification of autism spectrum disorder in very preterm infants: a machine learning approach.Molecular autismVery preterm children later diagnosed with ASD showed lower cognition and slower receptive, expressive, and fine motor development from 12 to 24 months. Neonatal risks plus these scores were better at identifying low likelihood than true cases.
• SLPCohort2026Bilingualism Enhances Metalinguistic Awareness in Autism: Extending the Two-Dimensional Grammaticality Judgment Task.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchBilingual autistic children outperformed monolingual autistic peers on grammatical judgment tasks requiring cognitive control. No such advantage was found in neurotypical children. Higher second-language proficiency predicted better overall performance in autistic children.
• SLPOther2026Children With ASD Do Not Understand Hidden Emotions Before False Belief Attribution.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchChildren with autism understood hidden emotions later than false beliefs on a low-verbal scale. This matches typical development. Earlier reversed findings may reflect language demands and measurement methods.
• OTSLPSystematic Review2026Scoping review: Facilitators, barriers, and cultural adaptations in the caregiver skills training program for children with developmental concerns.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCaregiver training for autism works best when adapted locally. Using community partners, simplifying materials for low literacy, and offering telehealth or childcare support helps families engage. These changes address barriers like stigma and travel, but do not prove the program improves child outcomes.
• PTOTSLPOther2026Trends Over Time in the Prevalence of Autism by Adaptive and Intellectual Functioning Levels.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutism prevalence rose sharply in children with mild or no adaptive challenges, but stayed stable or fell in those with moderate to profound challenges. Clinicians should expect a growing caseload of autistic children who need support with daily living skills rather than intensive 24-hour care.
• SLPCase-Control2026Head Growth Trajectories During the First Year of Life and Risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchInfants whose head circumference stayed small or large, or rose from normal to large, were more strongly linked to later autism diagnosis than infants with normal head growth. The link was strongest when head and height growth were abnormal together.
• SLPSystematic Review2026Systematic review of measures and interventions for caregiver adjustment to child autism diagnosis.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceResearch on how caregivers adjust to an autism diagnosis lacks a standard definition or validated measure. Four interventions showed some benefit, but evidence is too mixed to recommend a specific approach. Clinicians should focus on listening to individual caregiver experiences rather than applying a universal adjustment model.
• SLPCase-Control2026Neurobehavioral Assessment of Sensorimotor Function in Autism Using Smartphone Technology.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchSmartphone-based tests showed children with autism had reduced sensorimotor gating and higher startle variability than neurotypical peers. Behavioral differences like screen avoidance and vocalizations were also prominent, suggesting digital tools can objectively measure sensory processing differences.
• SLPOther2026Mother-Child Biobehavioral Synchrony and Its Association With Social Functioning in Autistic School-Aged Children.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchMothers and autistic children often showed opposite moment-to-moment heart-rate regulation during a shared drawing task. When the pair also worked well together, this opposite pattern was linked to fewer pragmatic language problems. Friendship quality showed no link.
• OTSLPCohort2025Sensory Processing Modalities and Their Associations With Academic Achievement in Autism and Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.Journal of autism and developmental disordersDirect auditory processing tests, not parent reports of sensory issues, linked to reading and math scores in autistic and ADHD children. Poor ability to hear speech in noise tracked with lower academic achievement. This suggests checking hearing-in-noise skills, not just asking parents about sensory habits.
• SLPPilot2025Preliminary Efficacy of Telehealth Family Navigation for Early Autism Services Access.Journal of autism and developmental disordersThe main early autism service-access outcomes showed no clear difference. The navigation arm, which also received screening training, did not reliably improve eligibility timing, and was less likely to get a medical autism diagnosis within six months.
• SLPPilot2026Thinking flexibly: A cognitive remediation therapy-informed intervention for autistic youth.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceYouth reported improved flexibility and reduced anxiety and depression after eight sessions of adapted cognitive remediation therapy. Parents did not report significant changes. High retention suggests the approach is acceptable to autistic adolescents.
• SLPQualitative2026'It's quite difficult to put Autistic relationships in a box': A qualitative exploration of romantic relationships in gender and sexually diverse Autistic adults.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic gender and sexually diverse adults described romantic relationships as deeply individual, rejecting standard scripts in favor of explicit communication. They distinguished partners from friends primarily by mutual agreement on labels, viewing shared neurotype as helpful for understanding but not a guarantee of compatibility.
• PTOTSLPCohort2026Profiles of parent-teacher discrepancy on autistic children's adaptive functioning.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParent and teacher ratings of autistic children's adaptive functioning often disagree. Teachers rated children with higher IQ and better executive function as more capable at school than parents did. Children with lower incomes showed the largest gaps, with parents reporting higher skills than teachers.
• PTOTSLPSurvey2026Preliminary Evidence for Associations Between Emotion Dysregulation and Therapy Participation in Young Autistic Children.Journal of autism and developmental disordersMore therapy types linked to higher emotion dysregulation. Yet, specific speech, occupational, and behavioral therapy participation associated with lower dysphoria or reactivity scores. Direction unclear; association not causation.
• SLPOther2026Resting state aperiodic and periodic EEG activity in preschool-aged autistic children: differences from neurotypical peers and links to language skills.Molecular autismIn preschool autistic children, lower brain background noise and stronger alpha rhythms linked to better language. These EEG features tracked language skills regardless of autism diagnosis. This suggests specific brain activity patterns, not just the diagnosis itself, relate to how well these children speak and understand.
• SLPCohort2026Emotion regulation in families of autistic children and adolescents: A longitudinal study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceParents who struggled to regulate their own emotions were more likely to express negativity at home one year later. Two years after that, their autistic children showed more emotion regulation difficulties, along with higher levels of anxiety, depression, and behavioral outbursts.
• SLPCohort2026Mismatching Expressions: Spatiotemporal and Kinematic Differences in Autistic and Non-Autistic Facial Expressions.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic adults posed facial expressions differently than non-autistic peers, relying more on mouth movements and less on eyebrows. Alexithymia, not autism, predicted poor differentiation between angry and happy expressions. For non-autistic people, consistent self-expression aided emotion recognition; for autistic people, IQ did.
• SLPOther2026Assessing the psychometric properties of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule - Generic (ADOS-G) in a clinical setting in the Chinese mainland.Molecular autismADOS-G autism spectrum thresholds in a Chinese mainland clinic identified many autistic children but also many children without an autism diagnosis. Communication scores were less reliable than social interaction scores, and agreement with ADI-R was slight.
• SLPSurvey2026Treatment of Challenging Behaviour in Children and Youth With an Intellectual Disability With or Without Autism.Journal of applied research in intellectual disabilities : JARIDMost children with intellectual disabilities who self-injured or acted aggressively relied on informal strategies rather than formal behavioural programs. Youth with autism were significantly more likely to receive formal programs and medication than those with intellectual disability alone.
• OTSLPOther2026Optimizing Measurement of Communication in Autistic Children and Their Caregivers: Dependability of the Caregiver-Child Interaction.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchObserving autistic children during just one daily activity gives unreliable scores for their communication and their caregiver's support. To get dependable estimates, you need to watch them across multiple different activities or on several separate occasions.
• SLPCohort2026Perception of pragmatic skills by speech therapists and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder.CoDASParents and speech therapists agreed on many pragmatic behaviors of children with ASD, but differed on some, including emotional expression, tantrums, repetitive play, and answering complex questions.
• SLPOther2026Identification of autistic Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand: A national cross-sectional study.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceAutistic Māori young people were more likely to have intellectual disability and education funding support than autistic non-Māori, while autism identification rates were lower for Māori overall.
• SLPOther2026The Conceptualization, Experience, and Recognition of Emotion in Autism: Differences in the Psychological Mechanisms Involved in Autistic and Non-Autistic Emotion Recognition.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAutistic and non-autistic adults did not differ in recognizing emotions, understanding emotion words, or differentiating their own feelings. However, the mental route to recognition differed. Non-autistic people relied on telling apart their own internal emotional states. Autistic people relied on their knowledge of what emotion words mean.
• PTOTSLPQualitative2026Community views on the assessment and diagnosis of autism: Principles to guide clinical practice.Autism : the international journal of research and practiceCommunity members identified three principles for autism assessment: placing the person at the centre, understanding the whole person beyond just diagnosis, and improving quality and access. Practitioners are urged to address cultural bias, recognise masking, and ensure transparent communication about costs and waitlists.
• PTOTSLPOther2026Sub-groups of spoken language and broader communication skills in a large heterogenous cohort of minimally verbal school-age children: evidence of discrepant profiles.Molecular autismA cluster analysis of 181 minimally verbal school-age children identified two groups with strong comprehension but weak speech production. These children use AAC more often. Their profile suggests a speech-motor barrier rather than a lack of understanding, so therapy should target speech sounds and support alternative communication.
• SLPCohort2026Parental Stress and Caregiver Role Modulate Child-Caregiver Prosodic Synchrony in Autism: A Computational Analysis.Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism ResearchAmong 26 autistic preschoolers, higher parent stress and father-child interactions were linked to less steady, more fluctuating vocal coordination during play. This was an association, not evidence that changing either improves outcomes.