Every kid should know how to ride a bike, it’s one of the most fun activities. It can be hard to teach your child with autism how to ride a bike, but not impossible. Here are some tips to help you get your child on the spectrum out riding their bike.
Hi! I’m Orion Kelly and I’m Autistic. On this video I’m joined by special guest Yo Samdy Sam to explore the topic of #autism and #parenting. Plus, we share our personal lived experiences as #actuallyautistic parents. #orionkelly#asd#autismsigns#whatautismfeelslike#autismparents
Autistic people are more vulnerable to depression and anxiety during pregnancy, according to new research from the University of Cambridge. The results are published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders and have important implications for supporting autistic people during pregnancy.
In the study, led by researchers at the Autism Research Centre, 524 non-autistic people and 417 autistic people completed an online survey about their experience of pregnancy. Anyone who was pregnant at the time of responding or had previously given birth was eligible to take part.
The study revealed that autistic parents were around three times more likely than non-autistic parents to report having experienced prenatal depression (9% of non-autistic parents and 24% of autistic parents) and anxiety (14% of non-autistic parents and 48% of autistic parents).
Autistic respondents also experienced lower satisfaction with pregnancy healthcare. Autistic respondents were less likely to trust professionals, feel that professionals took their questions and concerns seriously, feel that professionals treated them respectfully, and be satisfied with how information was presented to them in appointments. Furthermore, autistic respondents were more likely to experience sensory issues during pregnancy and more likely to feel overwhelmed by the sensory environment of prenatal appointments.
Dr Sarah Hampton, lead researcher on the study, said: “This study suggests that autistic people are more vulnerable to mental health difficulties during pregnancy. It is imperative that effective mental health screening and support is available for autistic people during pregnancy.”
Dr Rosie Holt, a member of the research team, added: “The results also suggest that autistic people may benefit from accommodations to prenatal healthcare. These may include adjustments to the sensory environment of healthcare settings, as well as adjustments to how information is communicated during prenatal appointments.”
Dr Carrie Allison, Deputy Director of the Autism Research Centre and a member of the team, said: “We are grateful to members of the autistic community for providing feedback when we designed this research. It is vital that autistic people with lived experience help shape the research we do, and we keep their priorities as a clear focus.”
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, Director of the Autism Research Centre and a member of the research team, said: “It is important that more research is conducted looking at the experiences of autistic new parents, who have been neglected in research. It is also important that this research is translated into health and social care policy and practice to ensure these parents receive the support and adaptations they need in a timely manner.”
A research group led by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has proposed a new concept for predicting autism and autistic traits. Empathic disequilibrium combines two types of empathy into a single scale for the first time.
Their findings were published recently in the peer-reviewed journal Autism Research.
Cognitive empathy means the ability to recognize other people’s mental states. Emotional empathy means responding to another’s mental state with an appropriate emotion. Previous research generally, but not always, found deficits in cognitive empathy among those diagnosed with autism. But this contradicted with some autistic people reporting having too much empathy.
Now, Dr. Florina Uzefovsky and Ido Shalev, from the Department of Psychology and the Zlotowski Center for Neuroscience at Ben-Gurion University, Dr. Alal Eran of the Department of Life Sciences and Boston Children’s Hospital, and their colleagues at the University of Cambridge, and Bar-Ilan University propose looking at how cognitive and emotional empathy interact through a new concept they have termed empathic disequilibrium.
“It is too simplistic to say those diagnosed with autism lack cognitive empathy or they lack emotional empathy. We need a more nuanced understanding of how the two empathies relate to each other, which we believe can aid in diagnosis and in understanding some autistic traits,” says Dr. Uzefovsky.
Each type of empathy is “rooted in distinct yet interrelated neurobiological evolved mechanisms,” the researchers wrote. A balance between these aspects is needed for social functioning. Those diagnosed with autism may have levels of empathy that are comparable to that of the general population, but a relative overabundance of emotional empathy may hinder some social interactions. Hence, empathic disequilibrium.
The researchers conducted a study among 1905 individuals diagnosed with autism (54% females, Mage = 36.81 ± 12.88, range 18–80 years) and 3009 typical controls (75% females, Mage = 38.26 ± 12.31 range 18–92 years). Participants filled in online questionnaires designed to assess their empathic disequilibrium. They found that those diagnosed with autism exhibited higher rates of empathic disequilibrium. However, they also found that empathic disequilibrium was useful for analyzing empathy in the non-autistic population as well.
“This concept opens up several interesting avenues of research into autism and into empathy,” says Dr. Uzefovsky.
A new Tel Aviv University study succeeded in significantly improving social skills and the condition of the autistic brain through pressure chamber therapy. The study was conducted on animal models of autism. In it, the researchers identified changes in the brain, including a reduction in neuroinflammation, which is known to be associated with autism. Moreover, a significant improvement was found in the social functioning of the animal models treated in the pressure chamber. The study’s success has many implications regarding the applicability and understanding of treating autism using pressure chamber therapy.
The breakthrough was made under the leadership of doctoral student Inbar Fischer, from the laboratory of Dr. Boaz Barak of Tel Aviv University’s Sagol School of Neuroscience and School of Psychological Sciences. The research was published in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences.
Fischer and Barak explain that hyperbaric medicine is a form of therapy in which patients are treated in special chambers where the atmospheric pressure is higher than the pressure we experience at sea level, and in addition are delivered 100 percent oxygen to breathe. Hyperbaric medicine is considered safe, and is already being used to treat a long list of medical conditions, including here in Israel. In recent years, scientific evidence has been accumulating that unique protocols of hyperbaric treatments improve the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain, thereby improving brain function.
Dr. Barak: “The medical causes of autism are numerous and varied, and ultimately create the diverse autistic spectrum with which we are familiar. About 20 percent of autistic cases today are explained by genetic causes, that is, those involving genetic defects, but not necessarily ones that are inherited from the parents. Despite the variety of sources of autism, the entire spectrum of behavioral problems associated with it are still included under the single broad heading of ‘autism,’ and the treatments and medications offered do not necessarily correspond directly to the reason why the autism developed.”
In the preliminary phase of the study, a girl carrying the mutation in the SHANK3 gene, which is known to lead to autism, was treated by Prof. Shai Efrati, director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at the Shamir “Assaf Harofeh” Medical Center, faculty member at the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and a partner in the study. Upon completing a series of treatments in the pressure chamber, it was evident that the girl’s social abilities and brain function had improved considerably.
In the next stage, and in order to comprehend the success of the treatment more deeply, the team of researchers at Dr. Barak’s laboratory sought to understand what being in a pressurized chamber does to the brain. To this end, the researchers used adult animal models carrying the same genetic mutation in the SHANK3 gene as that carried by the girl who had been treated. The experiment comprised a protocol of 40 one-hour treatments in a pressure chamber, which lasted several weeks.
Dr. Barak: “We discovered that treatment in the oxygen-enriched pressure chamber reduces inflammation in the brain and leads to an increase in the expression of substances responsible for improving blood and oxygen supply to the brain, and therefore brain function. In addition, we saw a decrease in the number of microglial cells, immune system cells that indicate inflammation, which is associated with autism.
“Beyond the neurological findings we discovered, what interested us more than anything was to see whether these improvements in the brain also led to an improvement in social behavior, which is known to be impaired in autistic individuals,” adds Dr. Barak. “To our surprise, the findings showed a significant improvement in the social behavior of the animal models of autism that underwent treatment in the pressure chamber compared to those in the control group, who were exposed to air at normal pressure, and without oxygen enrichment. The animal models that underwent treatment displayed increased social interest, preferring to spend more time in the company of new animals to which they were exposed in comparison to the animal models from the control group.”
Inbar Fischer concludes: “The mutation in the animal models is identical to the mutation that exists in humans. Therefore, our research is likely to have clinical implications for improving the pathological condition of autism resulting from this genetic mutation, and likely also of autism stemming from other causes. Because the pressure chamber treatment is non-intrusive and has been found to be safe, our findings are encouraging and demonstrate that this treatment may improve these behavioral and neurological aspects in humans as well, in addition to offering a scientific explanation of how they occur in the brain.”