In 2012 Flanagan and colleagues presented evidence that infants’ head lag during a pull-to-sit task at age six months was significantly associated with a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder at 36 months. The authors acknowledged limitations of the study, including a relatively small sample and the absence of a comparison group of infants with idiopathic…
There are indications that the emphasis on early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder has produced important positive changes in screening and diagnostic practices. Universal autism screening leads to earlier referral for evaluation, earlier age of diagnosis, and earlier initiation of appropriate, autism-specific interventions (Valicenti-McDermott, 2016). Along with these changes have come questions about how early…
By Amanda Buchmeier, M.S., BCBA, LBA Registered Behavior Technicians are required to be supervised for 5% of the hours spent providing behavior-analytic services per month. Here are five strategies for making the most of that time and setting supervision up for success: Use a Supervision Contract At the onset of supervision, review and sign a…
A recent paper published in the Annual Review of Public Health (Lyall et al., 2017) offers a summary of the state of the science with respect to the epidemiology (i.e., the incidence, distribution, and possible control) of autism. This abstract quotes the main conclusions of that paper. PHENOTYPE AND DIAGNOSIS Onset of ASD symptoms…
In an increasingly multicultural country, clinicians and educators in the US are often confronted with autism spectrum disorder in children from bilingual or multilingual families. A persistent concern has been raised as to whether the language development of children with ASD is further delayed or disrupted because of exposure to two (or more) languages in…
A report in the Washington Post dated November 13, 2015 had the headline “Autism cases in U.S. jump to 1 in 45.” The story opened with the paragraph: “The number of autism cases in the United States appeared to jump dramatically in 2014 according to new estimates released Friday, but researchers said that changes in…
A recent report published on-line by Lancet (Pickles et al., 2016) maintains that a parent-mediated intervention for children with autism has produced the first “long-term symptom reduction after a randomized controlled trial of early intervention in autism spectrum disorder” (p. 1; on-line version). The follow-up study examined a range of outcomes for 121 children who participated in…
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a relatively recent technology that has been FDA-approved for the treatment of depression and migraine with aura. TMS uses a magnetic field to stimulate specific areas of the brain. In recent years, there has been interest in applying TMS to treat other conditions, including Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), on an…
A recent paper (Boukhris et al., 2015) raised once again the concern that women who take antidepressants during pregnancy are at increased risk for giving birth to a child who will be diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder. This is not a new finding – a series of papers in recent years have reported similar results…
Hans Asperger is a forgotten genius whose rightful place in the history of autism was pre-empted by the wrong-headed, self-serving plagiarist, Leo Kanner. So goes the alternative narrative put forward by Steve Silberman in his fascinating account of the evolution of the condition we call Autism Spectrum Disorder. Silberman’s book, NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and…