#Autism Research

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

@adamfare1996

[chronicsymptomsyndrome]

Clinical studies be like

1 billion random boys were tested. results show that 0% of girls are autistic* 👍

1 billion autistic males were tested. results show that 0% of autistics are female* 👍

1 billion minors were tested. results show ADHD stops at age 18, often to be replaced by plain laziness* 👍

*certified😎 totally credible source✨ we are pros🤓 with coats🥼

[sillycourtjester]

This is an autism masterlist of resources!! Credit to the google document owner.

[anxietycomments]

ok completely unrelated to anything going on in my life <- liar but, sometimes autism is being too much. sometimes autism is never knowing if you're being too much. sometimes autism is relying on other people to tell you if you're being too much because you're just so excited and happy and you forget that sometimes, other people can't handle that. sometimes autism is being afraid to ask if you're too much. sometimes autism is coming off as whiny and rude because you just don't know.

sometimes autism is too much, and it makes you too much, and now you don't know if you've always been too much or if everyone you know is just used to dealing with it. because it's "rude" to ask.

[yellow-dress-basil]

I’m realizing that no one else but our own community is going to fix it.

There are no supports for those with Autism. “Treatment” is focused on abusive ABA nonsense that punishes Autistic kids for being how they naturally are.

There are virtually no studies on or adaptations of therapies that work for us.

There are virtually no accommodations for us in the world or at work that actually help.

The diagnostic criteria are a mess.

We’re going to have to fix it ourselves.

Make our own treatments. Our own groups. Our own accommodations. Our own diagnostic criteria.

Who’s with me?

[cosmicyellow]

I love being an autism specialist. I love educating people on autism. I love sharing open source scientific resources. I'm so exciting for my research to get published. I love you autistic people and I will spend the rest of my life making sure you get the appropriate representation that we deserve.

[dusk-the-cat]

Does anyone know any resources for autism in teens?

I had previously ruled it out as a possibility, but now I’m really starting to consider I may have it more.

(Also, tips on how exactly to go about self-diagnosing are welcome.)

[crazycatsiren]

Hollywood be like "we totally did our research on autism respectfully for this show" and their allistic actors be proudly collaborating with Autism Speaks.

[grison-in-space]

at lunch one of the undergrads in my lab mentioned a study that had administered an autism score--I think the BAP-Q?--to academics at a variety of levels and got back some hilariously enriched ranking for autism among the faculty, which I have just spent twenty minutes digging through the lit for and failing to find.

however: I did find a bunch of articles by Sandra Jones, autistic researcher and national treasure, which are well worth perusing if you have a moment and this is a topic of interest. In particular:

Advice for autistic people considering a career in academia

Academia is underpinned by an apprenticeship model, with increasing recognition of the need for a ‘cognitive apprenticeship’ model in which the methods and strategies of academic success are learnt through participation in a community of inquiry. Autistic people face systemic barriers in academia, as in other professions, and these may be exacerbated by a model based on learning by observing and modelling. This study sought to obtain specific practical advice for autistic people considering a career in academia, from the perspective of those already working within the academy. Thirty-seven autistic academics provided written reflections on the advice they would give a young person considering a career in academia. Five key themes were generated from these reflections: know the role, find the right people, know (and value) yourself, remember well-being and proceed with caution but with passion.

Autistics working in academia: What are the barriers and facilitators?

Autistic people are under-represented in university student populations, but their numbers are growing, and the barriers to their inclusion are being recognised. Outside of the student body, autistic people in academia are often overlooked, although this is starting to change with the growth in inclusive autism research. However, they remain absent from the academic literature, despite the evident synergies between autistic strengths and academic careers. This study explored the perceptions of 37 autistic academics from various disciplines: what are the positives of working in academia for autistic people, and what are the negatives? Participants reported many positive aspects of an academic career, including the fit with the strengths, characteristics and motivations of autistic people. However, they also noted barriers and challenges – social, environmental and structural – many of which could be addressed by greater awareness and acceptance of autism. Given the considerable benefits that autistic teachers and researchers bring to higher education, there is a clear need for universities and colleges to implement changes to the physical and social environment to make academia more inclusive.

both are excellent food for thought and digestion, imo.

[theautibrainproject]

Autism: a short history.

Autism was first identified in 1940. Boys have been more commonly diagnosed than girls. The ratio of males to females is quoted to be 4:1 generally. But it's believed to be lower. One research group estimates the actual male-to-female ratio to be 3:4.

Another study claimed 80% of 18 year-old women are still undiagnosed. -> Which has serious consequences for their mental health.

Many of them are misdiagnosed with conditions such as borderline personality disorder, depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorders, anxiety. Girls are more likely to be diagnosed if they have additional intellectual disabilities or behavioural issues. Without many of these, many women are ending up with incorrect diagnoses, or none at all.

Boys are known to be more disruptive than girls. Which makes it so that girls are easily overlooked or diagnosed late. Because they go quiet. Girls may be more / mastering 'camouflaging' so 'typical' autistic characteristics could be masked when they learn social skills.

Girls in their teenage years -> suffer from anxiety and depression more often than boys with ASD. Or even neurotypical girls.

The list of common ASD mannerisms comes from primarily studying boys with autism. These behaviours include lining up toys, a fascination with spinning wheels or parts of objects. Or obsessions with trains and memorization of schedules. To name a few.

Girls with autism have either milder repetitive behaviours or different ones. They may have obsessions with unicorns wearing princess costumes. Which is more socially acceptable. And therefore less identifiable.

When not properly diagnosed and treated in childhood, girls with autism may experience poor academic performance, behavioural problems and trouble making friends.

As they get older, this could make it more difficult for them to cope with professional demands in the work place.

One on 68 children in the USA is affected by autism. New research suggests that current diagnostic methods OVERLOOK girls.

DSM-5 -> gender biased. For every woman diagnosed with ASD, roughly 3 to 6 men are diagnosed.

The common age for women to be diagnosed with ASD is late 30's to early 40's. Compared to age 7 for boys.

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Hi everyone!

I found an article that I liked at first because it seemed very informative. But one excerpt really pissed me off:

More than 70 genes have been linked to autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a developmental condition in which differences in the brain lead to a host of altered behaviors, including issues with language, social communication, hyperactivity, and repetitive movements. Scientists are attempting to tease out those specific associations gene by gene, neuron by neuron.

To me, this sounds like they’re trying to make a cure. Which is just inhumane in my opinion. They want to cure us? Why? There’s nothing wrong with us! We’re just different from other people/neurotypical people.

Anyway, that’s the end of my little rant.

Fun fact: scientists use mice in labs because their brain chemistry is similar to ours!

I’ll leave the article below in case anyone wants to read it:

[sweet-selune]

"Neither autism diagnostic status nor continuous autistic traits were significantly related to any gender or sexuality phenotypes. These findings suggest that the developmental and experiential features of gender diversity are very similar between autistic and non-autistic transgender adolescents."

Important to note that they were looking only at transgender binary youth, but still valuable research. Autistic trans people can face barriers to gender-affirming healthcare that their non-autistic counterparts do not, and we need research that can fix this.

[helendamnationx]

Reading a paper about the Autism-Dyspraxia link, where they're examining aspects of Dyspraxia outside of pure motor skills. They're talking about "body part for tool" errors, and the given example is that when asked to demonstrate how to use scissors, "the participant moves two fingers in a scissoring motion rather than pretending to actually hold the scissors." And I'm sitting here like. What.

I have both Autism and Dyspraxia and I would absolutely 100% make a scissor motion with my hand rather than pretend to hold imaginary scissors. The idea that anyone would do anything else, let alone that pretending to hold imaginary scissors is the normal and correct way to do it, is boggling to me. Yet apparently the control group mostly did the invisible scissors thing?

First, there's intuiting that this is what is wanted. Thinking about it, a scissoring motion is more a demonstration of how scissors work than how you use scissors, but this is a fine distinction that one wouldn't necassarily assume. Then there's the moment of figuring out how my hands would actually fit around invisible scissors - fair enough, probably that is a dyspraxia thing. But then you look at the motion your hand is making, and... what is that? Are you being a crab? Do deformed rabbit, it's my favourite. Whereas if you make a scissor motion with your hand, you've got scissors, clear as day.

[i-am-a-megalodon]

today i learned about grunya sukhareva, whose autism research was way ahead of her time. she founded several schools to help autistic children learn social and motor skills through gymnastics, drawing and woodworking classes, field trips, and more.

maybe if her work didn’t get plagiarized (possibly) by hans asperger and used by him for the purpose of eugenics, the world would have a better outlook on autistic people.

[cosmicyellow]

MY RESEARCH GOT ACCEPTED INTO THE SHOWCASE!!!!!!! IM GOING TO BE PRESENTING MY WORK TO DOCTORS AND THE LIKE!!!!!!!! THIS IS SUCH A HUGE WEIGHT OFF MY SHOULDERS I SUDDENLY FEEL LIKE IVE BEEN HUNGRY FOR THREE MONTHS STRAIGHT😭🤍

[somepancakeonline5377]

Doing research on autism as an autistic person is the most anger inducing thing on earth.