Autism: See the Potential

This video, which features the incredible Michael McCreary, is a wonderful introduction to autism spectrum disorder. The video was created to support customer service professionals when they provide services or support to people with ASD; however the positive response from the general public has been overwhelming. This video is so accessible and entertaining, it offers something for everyone.

View the video here. 

How "unmasking" leads to freedom for autistic and other neurodivergent people

 Masking manifests itself in two ways: camouflage and compensation. 

Camouflage includes behaviors like, "faking a smile, faking eye contact by looking in the middle of someone's forehead," Price says.

This is where compensation comes in. Price does this, for example, through scheduling ghost meetings on his calendar to give himself time to recharge. 

"And that's really what most masked autistics end up having to do, because a lot of us receive social input, our whole lives, that there's something off about us," he says.

Read/listen to more at NPR. 

Autism Masking: To Blend or Not to Blend

What is autism masking? 

Masking, which is also called camouflaging or compensating, is a social survival strategy. How it looks will vary from person to person, but masking can include behaviors like these:

• forcing or faking eye contact during conversations
• imitating smiles and other facial expressions
• mimicking gestures
• hiding or minimizing personal interests
• developing a repertoire of rehearsed responses to questions
• scripting conversations
• disguising stimming behaviors (hiding a jiggling foot or trading a preferred movement for one that’s less obvious)

People may mask autism for a variety of reasons, such as: 

• feeling safe and avoiding stigma
• avoiding mistreatment or bullying
• succeeding at work
• attracting a romantic partner
• making friends and other social connections
• fitting in or feeling a sense of belonging

What are the stages of autism masking?

Read more here at Healthline.  

Spotting the problems with ‘camouflaging’ in autism research

Autistic people may feel pressure to fit in at work or at school, or they may pick up mannerisms to help them get by in a society that is not set up to accommodate them. Scientists and autistic people describe such thoughts and behaviors as ‘camouflaging.’

Over the past few years, research on camouflaging has expanded rapidly. Some autistic women, for example, have reported that they camouflage their autismso well that they did not receive a diagnosis until adulthood. And studies show these women have brain activity in regions associated with social interactions that more closely resembles that of their typical peers than that of other autistic women. Researchers have sought to quantify camouflaging as the mismatch between an autistic person’s self-reported autism traits and their traits as measured by the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS). They have also suggested that more women camouflage than men do.

But some of this work is misguided, argues Eric Fombonne, director of autism research at the Institute on Development and Disability at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland. In an editorial last month in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, he laid out the problems he sees with this burgeoning field of study1.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Against neurodiversity

"The movement has good intentions, but it favours the high-functioning and overlooks those who struggle with severe autism."

"The neurodiversity movement is dividing both the autism community and autism researchers. Advocates make the distinction between autistics and ‘neurotypicals’, or nonautistics. This fosters an ‘us versus them’ mentality, wherein nonautistic people are regarded as an oppressive enemy. It also fosters intolerance towards different ways of thinking about autism, as well as a deep and unhealthy mistrust of the scientific and medical communities.

Ironically, a social-justice movement that aims to highlight the ways in which autistic people have been mistreated by society is now directly responsible for the mistreatment of the most vulnerable of all autistics – many of whom are too severely affected by their condition to speak up for themselves. In standing up for their rights, a group of marginalised people are effectively hyper-marginalising the very people they claim to be advocating for. They have monopolised the public discourse on autism, and continue to do whatever they can to silence any dissenting voices; this inability to debate and try to reach compromise is a problem not only for the autistic community, but for wider society."

Read more here at Aeon. 

Large study supports discarding the term ‘high-functioning autism’

Autistic people described as ‘high functioning’ because they do not have intellectual disability often still struggle with daily living skills, according to a study of more than 2,000 people on the spectrum1. The data should put the term ‘high functioning’ out of commission for good, the researchers argue.

The study, the largest of its type, shows that individuals deemed high functioning often have poor ‘adaptive behavior’ — the ability to perform basic tasks such as brushing teeth, tying shoelaces or taking the bus.

Researchers coined the term ‘high functioning’ in two papers published in the late 1980s2,3. It has since become shorthand to describe people with autism who have strong language skills and do not have intellectual disability (an IQ below 70).

For years, autistic people have objected to the label, as well as its counterpart, ‘low functioning,’ saying these terms do not reflect how much support they actually need.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Study identifies top tests of social skills in autistic adults

An evaluation of 11 tests of social skills has identified 8 that give credible results in autistic adults1.

People with autism often have trouble with social skills, including with perceiving and interpreting social information. However, training programs for these skills are difficult to evaluate because there is no standard way to measure improvement in autistic adults. Not a single test of social cognition has been validated for use in adults with autism.

The researchers administered 11 such tests to 103 autistic adults and 95 controls. The tests cover four aspects of social cognition: the ability to read emotions in faces and voices; to understand social rules and interpret social cues; to infer others’ thoughts and emotions (theory of mind); and to explain social situations. Participants also took an intelligence quotient (IQ) test.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Untangling the ties between autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder

At first glance, autism and OCD appear to have little in common. Yet clinicians and researchers have found an overlap between the two. Studies indicate that up to 84 percent of autistic people have some form of anxiety; as much as 17 percent may specifically have OCD. And an even larger proportion of people with OCD may also have undiagnosed autism, according to one 2017 study.

Part of that overlap may reflect misdiagnoses: OCD rituals can resemble the repetitive behaviors common in autism, and vice versa. But it’s increasingly evident that many people, like Slavin, have both conditions. People with autism are twice as likely as those without to be diagnosed with OCD later in life, according to a 2015 study that tracked the health records of nearly 3.4 million people in Denmark over 18 years. Similarly, people with OCD are four times as likely as typical individuals to later be diagnosed with autism, according to the same study.

In the past decade, researchers have begun to study these two conditions together to work out how they interact — and how they differ. Those distinctions could be important not only for making correct diagnoses but also for choosing effective treatments. People who have both OCD and autism appear to have unique experiences, distinct from those of either condition on its own. And for these people, standard interventions for OCD, such as cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), may provide little relief.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Fetishizing Autism: Representation in Hollywood

While mostly inaccurate and incredibly flawed, the autistic savant trend has recently given way to something potentially more damaging: autistic fetishization. This new trend essentially portrays autism as cool and desirable, a primer for superhuman abilities or even the next step in human evolution. That's not to say autism can't be cool or desirable, especially when defined that way by people who live with it daily, but a problem arises when the voices defining autism in pop culture don't have autism in the first place. The result is a series of Hollywood-generated "autistic archetypes" that never entirely ring true to the experiences of actual autistic people.

Read more about about autism stereotypes in popular media here. 

Are Motor Control and Regulation Problems Part of the ASD Motor Profile? A Handwriting Study

ABSTRACT 

The primary aim of this study was to kinematically assess how children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) plan and control their handwriting actions. Forty-three boys aged between 8 to 12 years were included in the present analysis; 23 with ASD and 20 typically developing (TD) controls. Sophisticated objective and quantifiable assessment of movement metrics and dynamics was applied across a series of basic cursive handwriting sequences. Children with ASD demonstrated atypical control of handwriting metrics and dynamics, as well as significantly greater neuromotor noise relative to age-matched peers. They also engaged in less regular monitoring and regulation of their movement during the handwriting task. 

Overall, results revealed that even at a basic level, children with ASD appear to have a breakdown in their ability to control and regulate their handwriting movements. This has important implications for the school-aged child who constantly engages in handwriting tasks within the classroom environment and provides insight into possible directions for future intervention.

Read more here. 

The evolution of ‘autism’ as a diagnosis, explained

Autism was originally described as a form of childhood schizophrenia and the result of cold parenting, then as a set of related developmental disorders, and finally as a spectrum condition with wide-ranging degrees of impairment. Along with these shifting views, its diagnostic criteria have changed as well.

Here is how the “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” (DSM), the diagnostic manual used in the United States, has reflected our evolving understanding of autism.

Why was autism initially considered a psychiatric condition?

Read more here at Spectrum.

New evidence ties Hans Asperger to Nazi eugenics program

The Austrian doctor Hans Asperger cooperated extensively with the Nazi regime and may have sent dozens of children to their deaths.

Horrific details of his involvement were revealed yesterday in the journal Molecular Autism and will be detailed in a forthcoming book called “Asperger’s Children: The Origins of Autism in Nazi Vienna.”

Asperger was among the first researchers to describe autism, and his decades of work with children later informed the concept of an autism ‘spectrum.’
Scholars have raised questions about his associations with the Nazi Party and his involvement in Nazi efforts to euthanize children with certain health conditions or disabilities.

The new book and paper suggest that Asperger referred dozens of children to a clinic called Am Spiegelgrund in Vienna, where doctors experimented on children or killed them¹. Nearly 800 children, many of whom were disabled or sick, were killed there. The clinic’s staff gave the children barbiturates, which often led to their death by pneumonia.

Read more here at Spectrum.

High-Functioning Autism: Proven & Practical Interventions for Challenging Behaviors in Children, Adolescents & Young Adults

April 16 - Billings
April 17 - Bozeman
April 19 - Missoula

$219.99   Single Registration                                    

$199.99   Single Registration: Advance Price (ends 3/27/2018)                                        

$199.99    2+ Group Rate: per person

Course Description:

This intensive, full-day seminar provides proven intervention strategies, essential treatment tools, and behavioral techniques to help you analyze behaviors and actions, identify consequences for behaviors, and teach new skills to children, adolescents and young adults with high-functioning autism (HFA). Walk away with practical intervention techniques for social success, behavior changes and overcoming challenging co-occurring behaviors that deliver success through adulthood. The challenging co-occurring issues to be addressed are:

• Social skills
• Sensory
• Depression
• ADHD
• Psychotropic medications
• Communication
• Anxiety/Rigidity
• Meltdowns
• OCD
• Non-compliance

Gain valuable insight into common psychotropic medications, including both the helpful effects and potentially problematic side effects, that these individuals are prescribed. We will explore HFA and the new DSM-5® diagnosis of Social-Pragmatic Communication Disorder. You will receive the necessary tools to gain effective collaboration between clinicians, educators and parents. Through case studies, video clips and class participation you will leave this seminar with the confidence to identify actions that cause impediments in change, utilize more successful consequences for behaviors, and teach new skills to children, adolescents, and young adults with HFA. Don’t just manage these individuals; provide interventions that can lead to successful independence into their adult years!

Register here. 

Please note: This training is provided by PESI and we will not be offering attendance scholarships as we are unfamiliar with the presentation/presenter. 

Living On The Autism Spectrum: Women Talk About Their Diagnoses As Adults

When we hear the words “autism diagnosis” it’s common to imagine a young child or adolescent.
But what about those who receive their diagnoses at a later stage of life -- in the midst of successful careers or long, happy marriages?

This hour, we meet two women who were diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder as adults.

Listen here.

Portrayals of autism on television don’t showcase full spectrum

If you’re a fan of either of two new television shows that debuted in the United States this September — “Atypical” on the streaming service Netflix or “The Good Doctor” on ABC — I’ve got news for you. You’re watching an overly positive depiction of autism that doesn’t reflect reality for the majority of people on the spectrum.

To the TV-watching public, autism has come to mean the verbal, higher-skilled, savant end of the spectrum, because individuals at that end make for interesting characters.

Read more here at Spectrum. 

Archived Webinar - Autism in Girls and Women: A Rcorded Panel Discussion

The NIMH Office of Autism Research Coordination (OARC) and Office of Research on Disparities and Global Mental Health (ORDGMH) have coordinated efforts to invite three speakers who will talk about the neuroscience of ASD in girls, phenotype/clinical presentation, and challenges and needs faced by girls and women on the autism spectrum.

View the recording and slides here.

The labelling issue, by a 'mildly autistic' 'high-functioning' 'person with Asperger Syndrome

Read the article here.

Archived Webinar - Managing the Anxious Behaviors of Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder

This talk will provide an overview of a cognitive behavioral treatment (Facing Your Fears) to reduce anxiety in children/adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD). We will carefully review the child and parent components of the treatment so that by the end of the webinar, participants would be familiar with specific strategies to reduce anxiety symptoms in this population. We will also describe how the program is currently being adapted for adolescents with ASD/IDD.

View the webinar here.

Archived Webinar - ASD & Technology

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Join us for a discussion on the current state of research regarding ASD and technology and apps that are recommended for use by people with ASD.

View the archived webinar here. 

Sex and other foreign words

Society teaches people with autism from a young age that they are incapable of love, says Jessica Penwell Barnett, assistant professor of sexuality studies in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies program at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. Barnett leads sexual education sessions for college students with autism. The stereotype of children with autism as cold, emotionless robots is painful, pervasive and entirely misleading, she says. “Some are very aware of this social representation — it’s like a cloud that hovers over all of their thinking about whether they can be in a relationship or whether another person is going to want to be with them.”

In fact, many people with autism both desire and sustain lasting relationships. “There’s no incompatibility with being on the spectrum and being in a romantic relationship, being in love, being part of a committed partnership,” Barnett says. Like Shore, an estimated 47 percent of adults with the condition share their home — and their life — with a romantic partner.

That doesn’t necessarily mean relationships are easy for people on the spectrum. Some features of autism, such as inflexibility, anxiety, sensory overload, difficulty communicating one’s own — and sensing others’ — personal needs and limits, would seem to lend themselves to relationship disasters. But that thinking is based almost entirely on conjecture. Scientists have been slow to study how and why people with autism form satisfying relationships. 

Read more here on Spectrum.