Autism Research Blog: Translating Autism

Translating Autism merges with Child-Psych.org

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 05:42:19 PDT

Dear Readers of Translating Autism,Translating Autism has merged with www.child-psych.org. The decision to end this project as a self-standing website was an extremely difficult one, but I believe that by merging with Child-Psych we will be able to reach a much wider audience and provide a better service to our readers. At Child-Psych, parents looking for autism information will also be able to

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Expressive communication in children with severe autism

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 07:35:07 PDT

Harold L Doherty, an autism advocate and parent of a child with autism, has commented on the limited amount of research conducted with kids with severe autism. Although this is an empirical question, and I have not seen data confirming this possible trend, Mr. Doherty is most likely right, in that it appears that children with severe autism are underrepresented in today's published research. For

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Eyes aversion reconsidered: Kids with autism may prefer Lip-Sync.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 13:45:40 PDT

Last week I discussed a study showing that kids with low functioning autism identify noses better when these are presented upside down than when presented upright. In the context of that study, the authors suggested that these kids have an aversion to examining eyes directly and tend to focus on parts of the face away from the eyes.This week a group of researchers from Yale University published a

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Siblings of kids with autism: 7 years later.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 08:49:12 PDT

A number of studies have shown that some parents of children with autism show mild autistic tendencies. This has been called the 'broader autism phenotype'. However, less is known as to whether such phenomenon also affects typically developing brothers and sisters of children with autism. That is, are non-affected siblings of kids with autism free developmental problems or do they show a broader

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Hyperbaric treatment for children with autism: First controlled clinical trials.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 08:11:01 PDT

This week Biomed central published a double-blind placebo study of the effectiveness of hyperbaric treatment for autism. The study was published in Biomed, which is an open access journal, so readers are invited to read the entire study here. In sum, the authors randomly assigned 62 children (52 boys, 10 girls) between the ages of 2 to 7 to either a hyperbaric treatment condition or a control

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Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Anxiety in Autism

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 05:14:34 PDT

A review of: Wood, J., Drahota, A., Sze, K., Har, K., Chiu, A., & Langer, D. (2009). Cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety in children with autism spectrum disorders: a randomized, controlled trial Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50 (3), 224-234 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.01948.xThis is the second of a series of posts about recent studies on treatment interventions for autism.

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Are Pressure Vests Effective? Why do we publish case reports?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 18:46:32 PDT

This week I will be writing a series of micro reviews of recent treatment studies. Some of these articles are controversial for different reasons, for example below I discuss issues with single-case reports and later this week I will discuss issues regarding conflict of interest in the publication process. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders just published a case report on the

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Eyes aversion in autism may affect face recognition

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:53:57 PDT

A brief review of Annaz, D., Karmiloff-Smith, A., Johnson, M., & Thomas, M. (2009). A cross-syndrome study of the development of holistic face recognition in children with autism, Down syndrome, and Williams syndrome Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, 102 (4), 456-486 DOI: 10.1016/j.jecp.2008.11.005Holistic face recognition is the tendency to experience and process faces as a “whole”

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NIH Announces National Database for Autism Research

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:06:45 PDT

Today the National Institutes of Health announced the National Database for Autism Research. The system (http://ndar.nih.gov/ndarpublicweb/) was created to pool research data across research studies in autism and promote cross-collaboration between researchers around the world. From the NDAR website:NDAR stands for the National Database for Autism Research. The National Database for Autism

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How much does your pediatrician actually know about Autism?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 09:25:55 PDT

A review of: Golnik, A., Ireland, M., & Borowsky, I. (2009). Medical Homes for Children With Autism: A Physician Survey PEDIATRICS, 123 (3), 966-971 DOI: 10.1542/peds.2008-1321I’m usually extremely political when talking about other disciplines (pediatricians, speech therapists, neurologists, etc) since I think all of these clinicians have an important role in the care of children with autism.

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New Child Psychology and Parenting Blog

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 06:34:54 PDT

Please visit our new child psychology and parenting blog: http://www.child-psych.org/ Child-Psych.org was created by the editor of www.translatingautism.com, to provide commentary on the latest scientific findings on child disorders, parenting, and child development. We will be updating the blog several times per week with reviews of scientific studies, books, films, and discussions on media

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Sensory sensitivity as early sign of autism: more empirical evidence.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 06:00:01 PDT

When compared to children with non-ASD developmental delays, children with autism had significantly more tactile sensitivity, auditory anomalies (low response), and taste/smell sensitivity. A brief review of: Wiggins, L., Robins, D., Bakeman, R., & Adamson, L. (2009). Breif Report: Sensory Abnormalities as Distinguishing Symptoms of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Young Children Journal of Autism

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Autism, memory and theory of mind: Do parents of kids with autism show deficits?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 06:15:47 PDT

Some parents of children with low functioning autism show evidence of impaired social cognition and working memory.A brief review of: Sezen Gokcen, Emre Bora, Serpil Erermis, Hande Kesikci, Cahide Aydin (2009). Theory of mind and verbal working memory deficits in parents of autistic children Psychiatry Research, 166 (1), 46-53 DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2007.11.016I have written several times about

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Language and Autism: Do kids with autism make grammatical errors when sentences are long?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:08:47 PDT

Children with autism show deficits in grammatical judgments but this may be due to working memory deficits.A brief review of: INGE-MARIE EIGSTI, LOISA BENNETTO (2009). Grammaticality judgments in autism: Deviance or delay Journal of Child Language DOI: 10.1017/s0305000909009362In this study the authors compared 21 children with ASDs (19 males, 10 to 16 years) and 22 typically developing kids (20

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Autism and neurofeedback: Kids with autism slower to react

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:06:54 PDT

Children with autism show increased reaction time and unique brain wave patters during tasks that include novel distracters.A review of: Estate Sokhadze, Joshua Baruth, Allan Tasman, Lonnie Sears, Grace Mathai, Ayman El-Baz, Manuel F. Casanova (2009). Event-related Potential Study of Novelty Processing Abnormalities in Autism Applied Psychophysiology and Biofeedback, 34 (1), 37-51 DOI: 10.1007/

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Vision problems in autism: Reduced convergence?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:01:00 PST

Analysis of visual functioning in children with autism suggests impairment in visual convergence. A brief review of: Elizabeth Milne, Helen Griffiths, David Buckley, Alison Scope (2009). Vision in Children and Adolescents with Autistic Spectrum Disorder: Evidence for Reduced Convergence Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0705-8Although clinical observations,

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Sevoflurane and Autism: Animal evidence of neonatal anesthesia risk?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 06:24:09 PST

Animal study indicates that neonatal exposure to the anesthetic sevoflurane may lead to abnormal social behaviors.A review of: Maiko Satomoto, Yasushi Satoh, Katsuo Terui, Hideki Miyao, Kunio Takishima, Masataka Ito, Junko Imaki (2009). Neonatal Exposure to Sevoflurane Induces Abnormal Social Behaviors and Deficits in Fear Conditioning in Mice Anesthesiology, 110 (3), 628-637 DOI: 10.1097/ALN

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Translating Autism celebrates 100th review.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:27:43 PST

Yesterday's review of Kleinhans et al.'s article on amygdala metabolites and clinical symptoms in autism was Translating Autism's 100th summary/review of published scientific studies. I want to thank my readers for your support during the early stages of Translating Autism. Your emails, comments, and notes have been greatly appreciated. Interacting with the wonderful autism community during last

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Amygdala, autism and clinical impairment: When group comparisons are not enough.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 05:59:44 PST

Two metabolites in the amygdala are associated with clinical impairment in autism. A review of: Natalia M. Kleinhans, Todd Richards, Kurt E. Weaver, Olivia Liang, Geraldine Dawson, Elizabeth Aylward (2009). Brief Report: Biochemical Correlates of Clinical Impairment in High Functioning Autism and Asperger’s Disorder Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0707-6This

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Autism coverage and insurance premiums

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 14:30:12 PST

Autism insurance coverage at the rate of 20,000 per year would result in an insurance premium increase of $2.18 per month for the average family.A review/summary of: James N. Bouder, Stuart Spielman, David S. Mandell (2009). Brief Report: Quantifying the Impact of Autism Coverage on Private Insurance Premiums Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0701-zHealth care

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Autism and Serotonin: Is MAOB the missing link?

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 06:35:39 PST

A review of: Dubravka Hranilović, Zorana Bujas-Petković, Maja Tomičić, Tatjana Bordukalo-Nikšić, Sofia Blažević, Lipa Čičin-Šain (2009). Hyperserotonemia in autism: activity of 5HT-associated platelet proteins Journal of Neural Transmission DOI: 10.1007/s00702-009-0192-2Although dysregulation of serotonin has been associated with several psychiatric disorders, there is evidence suggesting that

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High functioning autism vs. Asperger's. Autism diagnostic issues (Part II)

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 07:30:18 PST

Part II review of: Fred R. Volkmar, Matthew State, Ami Klin (2009). Autism and autism spectrum disorders: diagnostic issues for the coming decade Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50 (1-2), 108-115 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02010.xMuch controversy and confusion remains about the differences between high functioning autism and Asperger’s syndrome. As the authors described, there are

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Autism Subtypes and Genetic Research. Autism diagnostic issues (Part I)

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 07:29:14 PST

A review of: Fred R. Volkmar, Matthew State, Ami Klin (2009). Autism and autism spectrum disorders: diagnostic issues for the coming decade Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 50 (1-2), 108-115 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-7610.2008.02010.xFred Volkmar, one of the most prominent autism researchers, and his team at Yale university, just released a provocative review of the issues affecting the

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Oral immunoglobulin and Autism: Study shows no treatment effect.

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 06:31:05 PST

A review of: Benjamin L. Handen, Raun D. Melmed, Robin L. Hansen, Michael G. Aman, David L. Burnham, Jon B. Bruss, Christopher J. McDougle (2009). A Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial of Oral Human Immunoglobulin for Gastrointestinal Dysfunction in Children with Autistic Disorder Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-008-0687-yI have previously reviewed studies

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Autism, Cognition, and the Corpos Callosum

info@translatingautism.com (Translating Autism) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 08:08:12 PST

A review of: Christopher J. Keary, Nancy J. Minshew, Rahul Bansal, Dhruman Goradia, Serguei Fedorov, Matcheri S. Keshavan, Antonio Y. Hardan (2009). Corpus Callosum Volume and Neurocognition in Autism Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders DOI: 10.1007/s10803-009-0689-4Just last week I had the opportunity to hear Dr. Richard Davidson, one of the fathers of the field of affective

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