free essays on autism spectrum disorder

Autism - List of Essay Samples And Topic Ideas

Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. Essays could explore the causes, symptoms, and treatment of autism, the experiences of individuals with autism, and societal understanding and acceptance of autism. We’ve gathered an extensive assortment of free essay samples on the topic of Autism you can find at Papersowl. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

Rain Man and Autism

The film Rain man was released into theaters in 1988 and was awarded many awards along with an Academy Award. The movie starts off by showing Charlie who works as a car salesman, attempting to close on a deal involving four Lamborghinis. Charlie decides to drive with his girlfriend Susanna to ensure that this deal goes through. On the drive over Charlie receives a call telling him that his father has just passed away. Charlie and his girlfriend go his […]

Applied Behavior Analysis and its Effects on Autism

Abstract During my research i have found several studies that have been done to support the fact that Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA) does in fact make a positive impact on children with Autism through discrete trials. It is based on the thought that when a child is rewarded for a positive behavior or correct social interaction the process will want to be repeated. Eventually one would phase out the reward. Dr Lovaas, who invented this method, has spent his career […]

The Unique Parenting Challenges are Faced by the Parents of Special Children

Introduction For typical children, parenting experiences are shared by other parents whereas the unique parenting challenges are faced by the parents of special children. Mobility and Inclusion of the parents as well as children are affected many a times. Even though careful analysis often reveals abilities, habitual tendency to perceive the disabilities from society’s part often hinders effective normalization and proper rehabilitation. All impose severe identity crisis and role restrictions even in knowledgeable parents.. In some conditions, as in the […]

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Autism in Japanese Manga and its Significance on Current Progression in J-pop Culture

Abstract In this paper I will explore and examine Autism in Manga, the social and cultural context of Autism in Manga, its movement, and importance of Tobe Keiko’s, “With the Light.” Manga is a huge part of Japanese culture and can be appreciated by so many different people. There are different types of Manga that have been specifically produced for that type of audience. In this paper, I will address the less talked about, women’s Manga or also known as […]

Speech Therapist for Autism

Abstract Autism Spectrum Disorder is a condition that consists of various challenges to an individual such as social skills, nonverbal communication, repetitive behaviors and difficulties with speech. So far doctors have not been able to find out what causes autism although it is believed that it involves both environmental and genetic factors. Autism can usually be detected at an early age, therefore giving the patient and therapist an early start to improve their verbal skills. Speech language pathologists also known […]

Virtual Reality in Regards to Health and how it Can be Life-Changing

        Exploring Virtual Reality in Health Diego Leon Professor Ron Frazier October 29, 2018, Introduction When most individuals think of technology involving computers, they think it can solely involve two of the five senses we humans have – vision (sight) and hearing (audition). But what if we could interact with more than two sensorial channels? Virtual reality deals with just that. Virtual reality is defined as a “high-end user interface that involves real-time simulation and interaction through […]

Growing up with Autism

Autism is a profound spectrum disorder; symptoms, as well as severity, range. It is one of the fastest-growing developmental disorders in America. For every 68 children born in the United States, 1 is diagnosed with a neurological development disorder that impairs their ability to interact and communicate on what we constitute as normal levels. Autism is multifaceted; it affects the brain development of millions worldwide. Not only are those diagnosed on the Autism Spectrum facing difficulties, but the family members […]

Kids with Autism

In this earth we have many different lifeforms. Animals, plants, insects, and people. Humans have populated the earth all throughout it. Some people are born healthy and some are born will disorders and illnesses and diseases. One of the disorders is Autism. Autism is constantly affecting the people who have it and the people around them all over the world. So what is Autism? Autism is a disorder that impairs the ability for social interaction and communication. It is very […]

My Personal Experience of Getting to Know Asperger’s Syndrome

The beginning of this paper covers the history of Asperger’s Syndrome, followed by an explanation of what Asperger’s is. The history provides detailed insights into Hans Asperger and Leo Kanner, and their relationship to each other. Their work has significantly enriched our understanding of the research surrounding Autism and Asperger’s Syndrome. The paper also discusses the process leading to Asperger’s becoming a recognized diagnosis, including the contributions of Lorna Wing and Ulta Frita. Furthermore, it traces Asperger’s entry into the […]

Cultural Stereotypes and Autism Disorder

“It’s the fastest growing developmental disability, autism” (Murray, 2008, p.2). “It is a complex neurological disorder that impedes or prevents effective verbal communication, effective social interaction, and appropriate behavior” (Ennis-Cole, Durodoye, & Harris, 2013). “Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong disorder that may have comorbid conditions like attention deficit disorder (ADD)/attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), anxiety disorder, stereotypical and self-stimulatory behaviors, insomnia, intellectual disabilities, obsessive compulsive disorder, seizure disorder/epilepsy, Tourette syndrome, Tic disorders, gastrointestinal problems, and other conditions. Another certainty, […]

Understanding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a cognitive disability that affects a person’s “communication, social, verbal, and motor skills” . The umbrella term of ASD created in 2013 by the American Psychiatric Association that covered 5 separate autism diagnosis and combined them into one umbrella term, the previous terms being Autistic Disorder, Rett syndrome, Asperger’s Disorder, Childhood disintegrative Disorder, and Pervasive Developmental Disorders. The word spectrum in the diagnosis refers to the fact that the disability does not manifest itself in […]

Defining Altruism Issue

In current society, it can be justified that the level of autonomy directly influences the amount of altruism an autistic adolescent implements. Defining Altruism: When it comes to the comprehension of socialization within the development of behaviors in adolescents, altruism is vital. Although there is no true altruism, more or less altruism can be determined based upon the involuntary actions and behaviors of an individual. In the absence of motivation, altruism cannot transpire. An altruist must have the inherent belief […]

911 Telecommunicators Response to Autism

Autism is becoming more prevalent every day. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention released new statistics in 2018. Nationally, 1 in 59 children have autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and boys are 4 (four) times more likely to have autism than girls. 1 in 37 boys and 1 in 151 girls were found to have autism. These are incredibly high statistics that will affect our communities across the United States We, as Telecommunicators, need to know how to understand and […]

Representation of Autism in the Netflix TV Show “Atypical”

In the first season of the TV show “Atypical”, the viewer meets the Gardner family, a seemingly normal family with an autistic teenage son, Sam, as the focus. This show failed initially to deviate from typical portrayals of autistic people on screens, as a white male, intellectually gifted, and seemingly unrelatable, although it seemed to try. Sam acts in ways that seem almost unbelievable for even someone with autism to, such as when he declares his love for someone else […]

Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of developmental disorders that challenges a child’s skills in social interaction, communication, and behavior. ASD’s collective signs and symptoms may include: making little eye contact, repetitive behaviors, parallel play, unexplainable temper tantrums, misunderstanding of nonverbal cues, focused interests, and/or sensory overload. Positive symptoms of ASD may reflect above-average intelligence, excellence in math, science, or art, and the ability to learn things in detail. A question that many parent has is whAlthough an individual […]

The Complexity of Autism

Autism spectrum disorder is a complex disease that affects the developmental and speech capabilities of adolescents that carries with them to adulthood. It is distinctly apparent when the child is still very young and able to be diagnosed from about a year and a half old onwards. Although the disease cannot be pinpointed to one specific area of the brain, it is believed to stem from a glitchy gene that makes the child more susceptible to developing autism, oxygen deprivation […]

An Overview of the Five Deadly Diseases that Affect the Human Brain

There are hundreds of diseases that affect the brain. Every day, we fight these diseases just as vehemently as they afflict their carriers. Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's, depression, autism, and strokes are just five of the most lethal and debilitating diseases that afflict human brains. Parkinson's disease alone claims up to 18,000 lives a year (Hagerman 1). But what is it? Parkinson's disease occurs when a brain chemical called dopamine begins to die in a region that facilitates muscle movement. Consequently, […]

Autism Genes: Unveiling the Complexities

“Autism is a brain disorder that typically affects a person’s ability to communicate, form relationships with others and respond appropriately to the environment (www.childdevelopmentinfo.com).” There are different levels of autism. “There is the autistic disorder, Asperger's syndrome and pervasive developmental syndrome (www.asws.org).” According to (www.everydayhealth.com/autism/types), “Each situation is unique as there are many levels and severities of it. Many cases also include sensory difficulties. These can range from imaginary sights and sounds to other sensations.” There are many different characteristics […]

Autism and Assistive Technology for Autistic Children

Autism is a complex neurobehavioral condition that is found in a person from early childhood days where the person faces difficulty in communicating with another person. It is also known as ASD or Autism Spectrum Disorder. It is a spectrum disorder because its effect varies from person to person. This is caused due to some changes that happen during early brain development. It is suggested that it may arise from abnormalities in parts of the brain that interpret sensory input […]

The Evolution of Autism Diagnosis: from Misunderstanding to Scientific Approach

Autism has come a long way from the early 1980s when it was rarely diagnosed to today where 100 out 10,000 kids are diagnosed. Autism is defined as a developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior (NIMH 2018). There are many aspects surrounding Autism and the underlying effects that play a role in Autism. According to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, people with Autism have “Difficulty with communication and interaction with other people Restricted interests and repetitive […]

Do Vaccines Cause Autism

In a world of medicines and “mommy bloggers”, there is a controversy between pro-vaxxers and anti-vaxxers. The vaccination controversy cause an uproar for many people, understandably, it’s very polarized- you strongly believe in them or you strongly do not. For me, at the age of 15, I strongly believe in the Pro-Vaccine movement and I have data that can back me up. For starters, you may wonder ‘what is a vaccine’ or ‘how to do they work’. For a general […]

Autism: Characteristics, Diagnosis, and Understanding

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder has nearly doubled in recent years, and the numbers are staggering: nearly 1 in every 59 children are diagnosed with autism in the United States alone. Yet, there are so many questions surrounding the complexity and increase in diagnoses of this condition that affects so many in such diverse ways. (Autism Speaks) How autism originates in the first place and its impact on communication, both verbal and nonverbal, are questions that need to be […]

Autism Spectrum Disorder and its Positive Effects

 What would it feel like if you were constantly ignored or treated as though you have little usefulness? Many people experience this kind of treatment their entire lives. Long has it been assumed that people with mental disabilities such as Autism, were meant to be cared for but to never expect any value from them. Evil men such as Hitler even went so far as to kill them because he thought they had no use to society. However, there is […]

Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders and ADHD

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex lifelong neurodevelopmental disorder that affects communication and behavior, generally diagnosed within the early stages of life. No two individuals living with Autism experience the same symptoms, as the type and severity varies with each case (Holland, 2018.). Autism has been around for hundreds of years, but the definition has evolved immensely. In 1943, scientists Leo Kanner and Hans Asperger conducted research on individuals with social and emotional deficits to better refine the definition […]

Raising a Child with Autism

All impose severe identity crisis and role restrictions even in knowledgeable parents.. In some conditions, as in the case of physical challenges, the child needs physical reassurance and support from the parents against those conditions of cognitive deficits in which the demands are always parent’s constant attention and feedback. As far as autism is concerned, the child’s deficits are many namely social, emotional, communicational, sensual, as well as behavioral. Symptoms are usually identified between one and two years of age. […]

Is Autism a Kind of Brain Damage

Many people have different views about autism. Autism may be only one simple word, but with this one word comes many forms in the way it could affect people with this disability. Autism should not be looked down on as much as this disability is from others in society. It may seem as if it has more “cons” than “pros” as some call them, but if looked at from a better perspective, there could be more pros than cons and […]

Trouble with Social Aspects and People on the Autism Spectrum

Autism in childhood starts as early as age two, and symptoms will become more severe as children continue into elementary school. When a child goes to a psychiatrist, they will work on social development. Adolescence with autism struggle when attempting to project others pain. For example, my brother has Asperger's and when I have a bone graph done on my hand, he could not stop touching my hand. He needed constant reminders to not touch and remind him of when […]

Effects of Autism

When he was eight years old, the parents of Joshua Dushack learned that their son was different. He had been diagnosed with Autism. According to the doctors, Joshua would never be able to read, write, talk, or go to school on his own. This might have been the case, had his parents accepted it. But his mother saw her son as a normal boy, and treated him as such. He did need some extra help in school, but because of […]

How Different Types of Assistive Technology Can Help Children with Autism

I. Introduction An anonymous speaker once said, “some people with Autism may not be able to speak or answer to their name, but they can still hear your words and feel your kindness.” Approximately thirty percent of people diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder never learn to speak more than a few words (Forman & Rudy, 2018). Fortunately in today’s society, new technologies have made it possible for these individuals to communicate and socialize with others. Purpose The primary focus of […]

Searching Employment Autism

Over the last 20 years, there has been an alarming increase for children who have been diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control, in the year 2000 1 in 159 children would be diagnosed with ASD. In the latest version of the study, the number has been reduced to 1 in 59 children will be diagnosed with ASD (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2018). This is a subject that […]

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How To Write an Essay About Autism

Understanding autism.

Before writing an essay about autism, it's essential to understand what autism is and the spectrum of conditions it encompasses. Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), is a complex developmental disorder that affects communication and behavior. It is characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and nonverbal communication. Start your essay by explaining the nature of autism, its symptoms, and the spectrum concept, which acknowledges a range of strengths and challenges experienced by individuals with autism. It's also important to discuss the causes and diagnosis of autism, as well as the common misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding it. This foundational knowledge will set the stage for a more in-depth exploration of the topic.

Developing a Focused Thesis Statement

A strong essay on autism should be centered around a clear, focused thesis statement. This statement should present a specific angle or argument about autism. For example, you might discuss the importance of early intervention and therapy, the representation of autism in media, or the challenges faced by individuals with autism in education and employment. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and ensure that your analysis is structured and coherent.

Gathering and Analyzing Data

To support your thesis, gather relevant data and research from credible sources. This might include scientific studies, statistics, reports from autism advocacy organizations, and personal narratives. Analyze this data critically, considering different perspectives and the quality of the evidence. Including a range of viewpoints will strengthen your argument and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Discussing Implications and Interventions

A significant portion of your essay should be dedicated to discussing the broader implications of autism and potential interventions. This can include the impact of autism on individuals and families, educational strategies, therapeutic approaches, and social support systems. Evaluate the effectiveness of these interventions, drawing on case studies or research findings. Discussing both the successes and challenges in managing and understanding autism will provide a balanced view and demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the topic.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the key points of your discussion and restating your thesis in light of the evidence and examples provided. Your conclusion should tie together your analysis and emphasize the significance of understanding and supporting individuals with autism. You might also want to highlight areas where further research or development is needed or the potential for societal changes to improve the lives of those with autism.

Final Review and Editing

After completing your essay, it's important to review and edit your work. Ensure that your arguments are clearly articulated and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers or experts in the field to refine your essay further. A well-crafted essay on autism will not only inform but also engage readers in considering the complexities of this condition and the collective efforts required to support those affected by it.

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Autism Spectrum Disorder Research Paper

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As human beings grow up, they are bound to develop various behaviors that they carry on with, even in their adulthood. The behaviors could be of any type ranging from deviance to anti-social dispositions. Parents become worried when they realize that their children have any of these abnormalities.

To some parents, they may realize the behavior early enough for treatment while to others; they take too long to decipher the strange behaviors with their children. Although intervention is still viable in the latter case, full development is highly unlikely.

While there are many causes that can be associated to these anomalies of child development, or even peculiar adult conducts, one of the key contributors to these is autism spectrum disorder. This research paper provides an insight into the principal aspects of autism spectrum disorder including its causes, symptoms, treatment, and myths surrounding it.

Living with autism spectrum disorder is challenging to the patient and their surroundings that can differ widely from person to person. In many cases, normal development is more or less hindered in all spheres of life. Autism is, therefore, a permanent disability that affects societal and communication skills.

Autistics fail to comprehend the operation of their surroundings (Boutot & Tincani, 2009). They also find it difficult to interact. In particular, such people have difficulties in learning, grasping accepted rules of social intermingling that normal people take for granted. What exactly is this autism spectrum disorder?

The term ‘autism’ was first coined by Eugene Bleuler in 1912. It originates from the Greek word ‘autos’ meaning self. Bleuler used it to describe the schizophrenic’s apparent difficulty in interacting with other people. Although the term was used to describe people showing the autistic tendency to detach from personal contact, the disorder was not fully defined until the mid 19 th century.

Leo Kanner is considered the first physician to focus on autism in his seminal paper entitled ‘Autistic disturbances of affective contact’. Kanner suggested that the term ‘autism’ describe the fact that children seemed to lack interest in other people (Exkom, 2006).

His paper on the autism contained almost every trait still considered as typical of ASD. Since the publication of the Kanner’s paper on autism, other scholars have joined the trade and made various contributions to the issue. These included Hans Asperger, a German scientist of whom the Asperger’s syndrome is named after (Gallo, 2010).

Scientists have, for long, debated on autism, owing to a difficult in the consensus in the name for the handicap. Nevertheless, autism is unanimously considered as a sever form of Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD) or Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

Autism is a neurological syndrome with predominantly behavioral manifestations. Many children with autism show neurological symptoms and signs including seizures, dyspraxia, hypotonia, mental retardation, gait anomalies, and macrocephaly. As such, in this paper, autism will be used interchangeably with ASD (Matson, 2008).

Given that autism is puzzling even to experts, this phenomenon has given rise to a couple of myths and misconceptions concerning the disorder. For instance, it is widely believed that children with autism can perform amazing metal feats like multiplying multiple numbers in their heads.

However, the reality is that the number of children with autism and having high intelligence is insignificant. Another myth surrounding ASD is that dissocial or secluded mothering causes autism. (Sicira-Kira, 2004).

The reality is that autism is a biological handicap. However, some fathers and mothers of autistic children who seem very introverted, socially discomfited, or isolated may themselves be autistic.

Another widely held misconception about ASD is that it can be caused. This is, however, not the case. In the real sense, autism commonly appears within the first two years of life. This is the time when children are being vaccinated.

Nevertheless, the emergence of autistic symptoms preceding an immunization is only by coincidence. It is also believed that there are behavioral programs that can cure autism. This is not true because autism is not curable. Behavioral programs are meant to aid the autistic person handle the disorder, but not to cure it (Gupta, 2004).

Having looked at some of the myths and misconceptions surrounding ASD, this paper now shifts focus to the symptoms associated with the disorder. There are three major symptoms that people with Autism spectrum disorder exhibit.

They show flaws in social interaction, oral and nonverbal communication, and recurring conducts or interests. Autistics find it difficult to express emotions, empathy, and conversing with others. They may insist on following certain routines in a repetitive manner, or rigid organization of objects.

As evident from these symptoms, ASD is made of a triad of impairments with each having the two extremes of severe degree and mild degree.

It is very easy to identify children with ASD because they do not follow the normal patterns of development. In most cases, between the ages of one year and three years, the distinction in the way the children react to people and other unusual behaviors becomes apparent.

These behaviors include failure to coo, babble, point, or make meaningful gestures at the age of one year, failure to speak one word by 16 months, or inability to combine two words by two years. Other abnormal behaviors include inability to respond to name, loss of language or social skills, poor eye contact, and an occasional hearing impairment (Le Blanc & Volkers, 2007).

Despite its profound symptoms, there is no specifically cause of autism recognized yet. The only conventional ideas concerning the basis of autism are that it is considered to be present at birth, in spite of its appearance later in life. It is caused by anomalies in the brain and may be genetic.

However, the cause of the brain anomalies and the gene affected by the disorder are still up for debate. Another certainty concerning the causes of ASDs is that they are not a psychological disorder by poor parenting, unconsciously rejecting a child, or failing to bond emotionally.

As such, while studying the causes, the scope of the scope of this paper will be limited to the possible causes of ASD (Matson, 2008).

There are four possible causes of ASD. These are biological basis, genetic, pregnancy or birth injury, and vaccinations. Under biological basis, researches have not been able to venture into the study of the human brain anatomy due to its inaccessibility.

However, with the innovative emergence of new brain imaging tools such as computerized tomography (CT), and position emission tomography (PET), study of the structure and the functioning of the brain are now possible.

Post mortem and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies have indicated that many major brain structures are implicated in autism. It is apparent that, in autism, a disorder is found in the structure of the brain.

There is a disorder localized in the frontal lobes. Reduced blood flow to some parts of the brain and decreased numbers of certain brain cells also seem to appear along autism traits (Matson & Minshawi, 2006).

Under hereditary, it is widely known that genetics are instrumental in the nature of holistic traits of human beings. This is the same for autism. Studies in the past have suggested an underlying genetic vulnerability to ASD. It is apparent that congenital factors play an important part.

Recent neuroimaging studies have shown that a cause for autism may be anomalous brain growth start from the infant’s first months. The idea that autism is caused by difficulties occurring during pregnancy, or birth process is also under investigation.

It is only in very exceptional cases that illness during pregnancy can cause autism (Sicira-Kira, 2004). A number of opinions exist concerning this cause with the most recent suggesting that laborious pregnancies are a consequence of autism in the child rather than a cause of it.

Another cause of ASD under investigation is toxins ingested by the mother during pregnancy. There is little evidence for the supposition that vaccinations cause autism.

In conclusion, there is no known cure for ASD. However, there are interventions that children or adults with this disorder.

The treatment is divided into a number of categories. These are nutritional-biologically based treatment, relational-socially based, sensory or neural based treatment, pharmacological-medically based treatment, and educational or behavioral skill based treatment (Williams & Williams, 2011). Since that ASD has no precise treatment, parents should pay attention to their growth and development patterns of their children.

Boutot, A. E., & Tincani, M. (2009). Autism Encyclopedia: the complete guide to Autism Spectrum Disorders . London: Sourcebooks, Inc.

Exkom, K. S. (2006). The Autism Sourcebook: Everything you need to know about diagnosis, treatment, coping, and healing–from a mother whose child recovered . New York: HarperCollins.

Gallo, D. P. (2010). Diagnosing Autism Spectrum Disorders: a lifespan perspective . New York: John Wiley and Sons.

Gupta, V. D. (2004). Autistic spectrum disorders in children . New York: CRC Press.

Le Blanc, R., & Volkers, H. (2007). What you should know about Autism Spectrum Disorders . New York: Cranendonck Coaching.

Matson, J. L. (2008). Clinical assessment and intervention for Autism Spectrum Disorders . Amsterdam: Academic Press.

Matson, J. L., & Minshawi, N. F. (2006). Early intervention for autism spectrum disorders: a critical analysis . London: Elsevier.

Sicira-Kira, C. (2004). Autism spectrum disorders: the complete guide to understanding autism, Asperger’s syndrome, pervasive developmental disorder, and other ASDs . London: Penguin.

Williams, B. F., & Williams, R. L. (2011). Effective programs for treating autism spectrum disorder: applied behavior analysis models . London: Taylor & Francis.

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• Published: 28 May 2021

Advances in autism research, 2021: continuing to decipher the secrets of autism

• Julio Licinio   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6905-5884 1 &
• Ma-Li Wong 1  

Molecular Psychiatry volume  26 ,  pages 1426–1428 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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• Autism spectrum disorders
• Neuroscience

We are proud to publish this Special Issue focused on autism, a topic that has been exceedingly important for Molecular Psychiatry since our inception. It is not too bold a statement to say that we were a fundamental contributor to bringing autism to the forefront of the national discourse. A Pubmed search reveals 403 articles published in Molecular Psychiatry since our founding in 1996. Our first autism article by Vincent et al., published in July 1996, examined the fragile X syndrome gene (FMR1) for mutations in autistic individuals, using single-stranded conformational polymorphism analysis; those authors identified three new FMR1 polymorphisms and identified specific and significant association findings with autism [ 1 ].

In late 2001–early 2002 we received four exciting papers with findings on the genetics of autism that were published together in our March 2002 issue, with an accompanying editorial [ 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]. We issued then a press release that was picked up by Time magazine and served as the basis for their unprecedented May 6, 2002 cover story on autism, featuring as that iconic magazine’s cover a young boy who was visibly autistic [ 7 ]. That was the first time that a person with autism was the cover of a national magazine. The magazine’s cover displayed in big yellow letters “Inside the world of autism” and it had a subtitle stating “More than one million Americans may have it, and the number of new cases is exploding. What scientists have discovered. What families should know.” The full story, by Nash [ 8 ], was entitled: “The Secrets of Autism,” with the following subtitle: “The number of children diagnosed with autism and Asperger’s in the U.S. is exploding. Why?” Time ’s cover article was so successful that their editors expanded that from a single issue into an entire series on autism over multiple issues. That Time series effectively made autism emerge as a mainstream topic of kitchen table conversations across America. As that effort was triggered by our press release and four articles on autism, it is reasonable to boast that Molecular Psychiatry launched the national conversation on autism.

The four papers highlighted in our March 2002 issue were within the first 20 articles that we published on this topic. Now, 383 papers later, we have a much more substantial body of work that further unravels the secrets of autism, the culmination of which is this autism Special Issue, with 26 truly superb papers on autism [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. These extraordinary articles cover essentially all aspects of this disorder, from the training of specialists, to the interface with other disorders, such as polycystic ovarian syndrome and Alzheimer’s disease, and in-depth analyses of genetics, structural and functional imaging, as well as neuroscience, including postmortem brain studies, transcriptome of induced pluripotent stem cell models, assessments of the role of vitamin D, and studies highlighting the contributions of inflammatory mediators to autism.

We have had for over three decades a particular interest on the interface of immune mediators and psychiatric disorders [ 35 ]. It is very rewarding to see the interface of immune mediators and psychiatry evolve from a hypothesis, that we and others explored decades ago, into a broad and established area within psychiatric neuroscience. As we have developed a new model of analysis of the simultaneous contributions of multiple genes and environmental factors to a psychiatric phenotype [ 36 ], were also encouraged to see studies looking at the polygenic risk for autism in the context of childhood trauma, life-time self-harm, and suicidal behavior and ideation [ 30 ], as well in comparison to several other psychiatric disorders [ 32 ].

One paper in this issue, by Frye et al., is highly usual, and particularly intriguing: it investigates the role of the mitochondrion, in the influence of prenatal air pollution exposure on neurodevelopment and behavior in 96 children with autism spectrum disorder [ 22 ]. Second and third trimester average and maximal daily exposure to fine air particulate matter of diameter ≤2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) was obtained from the Environmental Protection Agency’s Air Quality System. Mediation analysis found that mitochondrial respiration linked to energy production accounted for 25% and 10% of the effect of average prenatal PM 2.5 exposure on neurodevelopment and behavioral symptoms, respectively. Those results suggest that prenatal exposure to PM 2.5 disrupts neurodevelopment and behavior through complex mechanisms, including long-term changes in mitochondrial respiration and that patterns of early development need to be considered when studying the influence of environmental agents on neurodevelopmental outcomes.

We are honored to have initiated the national conversation on autism twenty years ago and we believe that the 403 autism papers published to date in Molecular Psychiatry , including, but not limited to those highlighted in this Special Issue, report major advances in a key area of molecular psychiatry. It is particularly rewarding to see that these articles cover the full spectrum of research translation [ 37 ], from molecules to society.

In future issues, Molecular Psychiatry will continue to publish outstanding advances in autism research.

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Licinio, J., Wong, ML. Advances in autism research, 2021: continuing to decipher the secrets of autism. Mol Psychiatry 26 , 1426–1428 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-021-01168-0

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Autism spectrum disorder research: knowledge mapping of progress and focus between 2011 and 2022

Miaomiao jiang.

1 National Clinical Research Center for Mental Disorders (Peking University Sixth Hospital), NHC Key Laboratory of Mental Health (Peking University), Peking University Sixth Hospital, Peking University Institute of Mental Health, Beijing, China

Xianjing Li

Liyang zhao.

2 Translational Medicine Center of Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, China

3 Guangdong Key Laboratory of Mental Health and Cognitive Science, Institute for Brain Research and Rehabilitation (IBRR), South China Normal University, Guangzhou, China

Lifang Wang

Associated data.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/ Supplementary material , further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding authors.

In recent years, a large number of studies have focused on autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The present study used bibliometric analysis to describe the state of ASD research over the past decade and identify its trends and research fronts.

Studies on ASD published from 2011 to 2022 were obtained from the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC). Bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer were used for bibliometric analysis.

A total of 57,108 studies were included in the systematic search, and articles were published in more than 6,000 journals. The number of publications increased by 181.7% (2,623 in 2011 and 7,390 in 2021). The articles in the field of genetics are widely cited in immunology, clinical research, and psychological research. Keywords co-occurrence analysis revealed that “causative mechanisms,” “clinical features,” and “intervention features” were the three main clusters of ASD research. Over the past decade, genetic variants associated with ASD have gained increasing attention, and immune dysbiosis and gut microbiota are the new development frontiers after 2015.

This study uses a bibliometric approach to visualize and quantitatively describe autism research over the last decade. Neuroscience, genetics, brain imaging studies, and gut microbiome studies improve our understanding of autism. In addition, the microbe-gut-brain axis may be an exciting research direction for ASD in the future. Therefore, through visual analysis of autism literature, this paper shows the development process, research hotspots, and cutting-edge trends in this field to provide theoretical reference for the development of autism in the future.

Introduction

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) refers to a group of early-onset, lifelong, heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions with complex mechanisms of emergence ( 1 ). The prevalence of ASD has increased from 1 in 69 by 2012 to 1 in 44 by 2018, as reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for 2012–2018 ( 2 , 3 ). Recent research estimates the male-to-female ratio is closer to 2:1 or 3:1, indicating a higher diagnostic prevalence of autism in males compared to females ( 4 – 6 ). Some studies have shown a high heritability of 80–93% in ASD and reported hundreds of risk gene loci ( 7 ).

Specific autistic characteristics usually appear before the age of 3 years, and some children on the spectrum may have limited nonverbal and verbal communication by the age of 18–24 months ( 8 , 9 ). The diagnosis of ASD is based on the core features of social communication impairment and unusual and repetitive sensory-motor behavior ( 10 ). Some autistic individuals can be definitively diagnosed with autism as early as 2–3 years of age and the mean age of diagnosis for autistic children is still 4–5 years ( 1 , 11 ). It is important to stress that more adults are getting assessed for possible autism ( 5 ). As autism is increasingly diagnosed, multidisciplinary involvement can help have a positive impact on the well-being and quality of life for both children and adults on the spectrum ( 12 ). Several mental diseases also affect autistic individuals, increasing the diagnosis complexity ( 13 ).

Over the past decade, researchers have struggled to explain the neurological etiology, and great progress has been made in the genetics, epigenetics, neuropathology, and neuroimaging of ASD ( 9 ). However, there is a lack of systematic review of field research and discussion of future research hotspots. Bibliometrics ( 14 ) belongs to interdisciplinary research, which has been widely used in science by analyzing highly cited papers, field keyword clustering, and the internal cooperation links of countries, thus providing a comprehensive interpretation of the development process of autism research field ( 15 ).

In some of the previous bibliometrics studies on ASD, a single software was used to focus on a specific field or research aspect of the autism ( 16 – 18 ), and the trend in the past decade has not yet been displayed. The present study comprehensively combines Bibliometrix package, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer to (1) dynamically assess quantitative indicators of ASD research publications and use different index indicators to measure the quality of research; (2) further identify the most contributing countries, institutions, journals, and authors; (3) analyze the citation network architecture; (4) determine the top 100 most cited papers; (5) conduct keyword analysis. Subsequently, bibliometrics was used to understand the current hotspots and trends in the field of ASD research for further in-depth investigation.

Materials and methods

Data collection and search strategies.

We comprehensively searched the Web of Science Core Collection (WoSCC) database from 2011 to 2022. WoSCC is a daily updated database covering an abstract index of multidisciplinary literature that exports complete citation data, maintained by Thomson Reuters (New York, NY, USA) ( 19 ). The articles’ data were independently searched by two researchers on May 29, 2022, to avoid bias caused by database updates. The scientometric retrieval process is illustrated in Figure 1 . A total of 68,769 original articles in English language were retrieved, excluding 11,661 irrelevant articles, such as meeting abstracts, editorial materials, corrections, and letters. A total of 57,108 documents were exported, and the retrieved documents would be exported in the form of all records and references.

Flowchart of the screening process.

Grey prediction model

Grey models (GM) are used to construct differential prediction models with limited and incomplete data ( 20 ). The GM (1,1) model, with high accuracy and convenient calculations, is extensively utilized in the energy and medical industries ( 21 ). We used the standard GM (1,1) model to forecast the annual publication volume over the next 5 years. The operation of GM (1,1) model was done by using Python software.

Bibliometric analysis and visualization

The records of the retrieved publications were exported to Bibliometrix, CiteSpace, and VOSviewer for further bibliometric analysis.

Bibliometrix package (running on R4.0.3) was utilized to capture and extract the bibliographic information on selected publications, including topic, author, keywords, and country distribution ( 22 ). The productivity of authors/journals in the field was measured by the number of publications (Np) and assessing metrics, such as the number of citations, publication h-index value, and m-index value. The h-index is used to quantify the scientific output and measure the citation impact, and two people with similar h-index may have a similar impact in the scientific field, even if the total number of papers or total citations are different ( 23 ). The m-index can be used to compare the influence of scholars with different academic career years. The number of citations of a document is a measure of its scientific impact to a certain extent ( 24 ). Bibliometrix package was also used to screen the top 100 articles and explore research trends and hotspots.

VOSviewer is a free computer program to visualize bibliometric maps ( 25 ). The keyword co-occurrence network was constructed using VOSviewer. CiteSpace is based on the Java environment and uses methods, such as co-occurrence analysis and cluster analysis, for the visualization of scientific literature research data in specific disciplines. The visual knowledge maps were constructed using the procedural steps of CiteSpace ( 26 ), including time slicing, threshold, pruning, merging, and mapping; then, the contribution of countries and institutions of ASD over the past decade was assessed based on centrality scores. The co-citation network and dual-map of references were constructed by CiteSpace. A dual-map ( 27 ) overlay is a bipartite overlay analysis method by CiteSspace, which uses the distribution map cited journals in the WoS database as the base map, and the map generated by the cited literature data as the overlay map.

Annual publications

A total of 57,108 articles were included in this study, consisting of 46,574 articles, 2,643 conference papers, and 7,891 reviews. From 2011 to 2022, the number of publications maintained a steady growth rate ( Figure 2A ), and the grey prediction model predicted the trend of increasing publication volume in the next 5 years ( Figure 2B ). The main information for all publications is shown in Supplementary Table S1 .

Global trends in publications of ASD research. (A) Single-year publication output over the past decade. (B) Model forecast curves for publication growth trends.

Distribution of countries and institutions

Autism-related research has been conducted by researchers from a variety of countries and institutions, and articles in this field have been cited 1,231,588 times ( Tables 1 , ​ ,2). 2 ). CiteSpace visualizes collaborative networks between institutions and countries ( Figures 3A , ​ ,B). B ). As shown in the international collaborations network of autism research ( Figure 3C ), the USA and UK are the leading countries working closely with other countries.

Publications in top 10 most productive countries.

Publications in top 10 most productive Institutions.

The distribution of countries and institutions. Map of countries (A) and institutions (B) contributed to publications related to ASD research. (C) Network diagram showing international collaborations involved in ASD research. The nodes represent the countries and institutions; the color depth and size of the circle are positively correlated to the number of posts. The thickness of the curved connecting lines represents the strength of collaboration in the countries and institutions.

Analysis of journals

The h-index combines productivity and impact; typically, a high h-index means a high recognition. As presented in Table 3 , the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, PLOS One, and Molecular Psychiatry were among the top three of the 20 journals with the highest h-index. The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders has the highest number of articles (3478) and cited number of publications (90308). Among the top 20, four journals with impact factors >10 include Molecular Psychiatry (IF: 13.437), Biological Psychiatry (IF: 12.810), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (IF: 12.779), Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (IF: 13.113), which have been cited more than 10,000 times. In addition, 75% of journals belong to Q1 ( Table 3 ). The cited journals provided the knowledge base of the citing journals. The yellow paths illustrate that studies published in “molecular, biology, immunology” journals tended to cite journals primarily in the domains of “molecular, biology, genetics,” and “psychology, education, social.” The paths colored with grass-green paths illustrate that studies published in “medicine, medical, clinical” journals tended to cite journals primarily in the domains of “molecular, biology, and genetics.” The pale blue paths showcase that research published in “psychology, education, health” journals preferred to quote journals mostly in the domains of “molecular, biology, genetics,” “health, nursing, medicine,” and “psychology, education, social ( Figure 4 ).”

Top 20 journals ranked by h_index.

TC: total citation; IF: impact factor.

A dual-map overlay of journals that published work related to ASD. A presentation of citation paths at a disciplinary level on a dual-map overlay. The width of the paths is proportional to the z-score-scale citation frequency. The labels on the map represent the research subjects covered by the journals, and the wavy curve connects the citing articles on the left side of the map and the cited articles on the right side of the map.

Analysis of authors

The top 10 most effective authors who have contributed to autism research are listed in Table 4 . The g-index and m-index are derivatives of the h-index, and if scientists publish at least 10 articles, of which 7 papers have been cited cumulatively 51 (>49), the g-index is 7; the m-index is related to the academic age of the scientists. The large g-index, h-index, and m-index indicate a great influence on the scholar’s academic influence and high academic achievement. Professor Catherine Lord from the USA is ranked first and has made outstanding contributions to autism research over the past 10 years. In terms of the number of publications, Simon Baron-Cohen was the most productive author ( n  = 278), followed by Tony Charman ( n  = 212) and Christopher Gillberg ( n  = 206). In terms of citations in this field, Daniel H. Geschwind was ranked first (18,127 citations), followed by Catherine Lord (14,830 citations) and Joseph D. Buxbaum (14,528 citations).

Top 10 most effective authors contributing to autism research.

TC: total citation; NP: number of papers.

Analysis of reference

The co-citation analysis network of 1,056,125 references ( Figure 5A ) showed that two articles appear simultaneously in the bibliography of the third cited document. The top 20 co-cited references (over the past decade) summarized in ASD studies are listed in Supplementary Table S2 . Most of this highly cited literature focuses on the genetic field, discovering genetic risk loci and associated mutations, constructing mutation networks highly associated with autism, and identifying genes associated with autism synaptic destruction. Some studies indicated that de novo mutations in ASD might partially explain the etiology. Multiple studies have revealed genetic variants associated with ASD, such as rare copy number variants (CNVs), de novo likely gene-disrupting (LGD) mutations, missense or nonsense de novo variants, and de novo duplications. In the cluster network graph, different colors represent varied clusters, and each node represents a cited paper, displaying the distribution of topics in the field ( Figure 5B ). The network is divided into 25 co-citation clusters ( Figure 5B ), primarily related to the diagnosis, etiology, and intervention of autism. The etiological studies include five clusters, de novo mutation, inflammation, gut microbiota, mitochondrial dysfunction, and mouse model. Intervention literature focuses on early intensive behavioral intervention, intranasal oxytocin, video modeling, and multisensory integration. The diagnostic aspects of ASD include neuroimaging functional connectivity and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5). In addition, some of the references focus on gender/sex differences and sleep problems. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new cluster for autism research.

Mapping on co-cited references. (A) A network map showing the co-cited references. (B) Co-cited clusters with cluster labels.

Co-occurrence analysis of keywords

The co-occurrence analysis of keywords in ASD research articles was performed using VOSviewer software; the keywords that occurred ≥200 times were analyzed after being grouped into four clusters of different colors ( Figure 6A ); the temporal distribution of keywords is summarized in Figure 6B . This map identifies various categories of research: Etiological mechanisms (red), Clinical features (green), Intervention features (blue), and the Asperger cluster (yellow). In the “Etiological mechanisms” cluster, the research includes brain structure and function, genetics, and neuropathology. In the “Clinical features” cluster, the common keywords were “symptoms,” “diagnosis,” “prevalence,” and its comorbidities, including “anxiety” and “sleep.” In the “Intervention features” cluster, the research population of ASD is concentrated in “young children,” “intervention,” and “communication.” These interventions improve the learning and social skills through the involvement of parents and schools.

Keywords co-occurrence network. (A) Cluster analysis of keywords. There are four clusters of keywords: red indicates Cluster 1 ( n  = 145), green indicates Cluster 2 ( n  = 104), blue indicates Cluster 3 ( n  = 78), yellow indicates Cluster 4 ( n  = 80). (B) Evolution of keyword frequency. A minimum number of occurrences of a keyword = 200. Overall, 407 keywords met the threshold criteria. The yellow keywords appear later than purple keywords.

The 100 top-cited publications

The screening of the 100 most cited publications on ASD between 2011 and 2022 by Bibliometrix software package, each with >500 citations. The detailed evaluation index information for countries, institutions, journals, and authors ( Supplementary Tables S3 – S6 ).

Taken together, the results indicated that the United States is the country that publishes the most highly cited articles ( n  = 64), including single-country publications ( n  = 37) and multiple-country publications ( n  = 27); most articles are from academic institutions within the USA ( Figures 7A , ​ ,B B ).

Analysis of the 100 top-cited publications Characteristics of 100 top-cited publications. The most relevant countries (A) , affiliations (B) , journals (C) and authors (D) . Trend topics (E) and thematic evolution (F) of 100 top-cited publication. Coupling Map (G) : the coupled analysis of the article, references and keywords is carried out, the centrality of the x -axis is displayed, the y -axis is the impact, and the confidence (conf%) is calculated.

The 100 top-cited ASD publications were published in 48 journals; 17 articles were published in Nature ( n  = 17), making it the highest h-index journal in this list ( Supplementary Table S5 ). In addition, 10 articles were published in Cell, and 7 articles were published in Nature Genetics ( Figure 7C ). When considering the individual authors’ academic contributions, Bernie Devlin provided 13 publications, followed by Kathryn Roeder and Stephan J Sanders, with 11 publications each ( Figure 7D ). The details of the top 10 top-cited papers are summarized in Table 5 . An article titled “A general framework for estimating the relative pathogenicity of human genetic variants” published by Martin Kircher in Nature Genetics, received the highest number of citations ( n  = 3,353).

Detail of top 10 citation paper.

The 100 top-cited ASD articles encompassed a range of keywords ( Figure 7E ) and displayed the main cluster of themes through specific periods (2011–2022) by analyzing those in the selected literature. The Sankey diagrams of thematic evolution explain the topics that evolved throughout the years ( Figure 7F ). In summary, the core topics of the ASD field in 2011–2014 consisted of the risk of childhood ASD and further developed into the field of human genetic variants, such as CNV and de novo mutations. In the subperiod 2015–2020, the further expansion of studies in this field leads to new clusters, such as “immune system,” “brain development,” and “fecal microbiota.” Genome research in the upper right quadrant, including mutations and risk, is a major and evolving theme. The coupled map showing the brain-gut axis field, including intestinal microbiota and chain fatty acids, located in the lower right corner is crucial for autism research but is not yet well-developed ( Figure 7G ). The research on autism, including animal models, schizophrenia, is a well-developed field, but that on high-functioning autism and diagnosis is a marginal field.

This study used various bibliometric tools and software to analyze the published articles on ASD based on the WoSCC database from 2011 to 2022. By 2022, the annual number of publications and citations of ASD-related research showed an overall upward trend, reflecting the sustained interest and the diversity of areas.

General information

In terms of regional distribution, researchers from different countries and regions have participated in autism research, and international cooperation has been relatively close over the past decade. The scientific research is supported by several countries and institutions, as well as by large-scale international cooperation ( 28 , 29 ). The USA has the highest collaboration performance, especially with UK, Canada, Australia and China. In addition to the limitations of financial aid, ethical, cultural, and racial issues are complex constraints that should be overcome for more diversity in autism research ( 30 , 31 ). We speculated that further collaboration between institutions and countries could promote autism research.

Among the top 20 academic journals, most of the papers were in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. The frequent publishing of ASD-related papers indicates the interest of readers and journal editors in Autism. Also, substantial studies have been carried out on ASDs, autism, and molecular autism. These journals are ascribed to the field of ASD, focusing on autism research and communication ASD science. However, the analysis of the 10 most cited publications revealed that they were published in such as Nature, Cell, Lancet; these ASD studies were all from high-impact journals.

From the perspective of authors, some of them have made outstanding contributions to global ASD research. Professor Catherine Lord, the top rank for h-index, m-index analysis conducted by the author, and who developed the two gold standards for autism diagnosis ( 32 , 33 ), are the most influencing factors in the field. ASD is a disease with complex genetic roots. Dr. Catherine Lord has conducted multiple studies using genome-wide association study (GWAS) and gene set analysis to identify variant signatures in autism ( 34 ). A recent meta-analysis showed that 74–93% of ASD risk is heritable, with an analysis of CNVs that highlights the key role of rare and de novo mutations in the etiology of ASD ( 35 ). Variation-affected gene clusters on networks associated with synaptic transmission, neuronal development, and chromatin regulation ( 36 , 37 ). The identification of the cross-disorder genetic risk factors found by assessing SNP heritability in five psychiatric disorders ( 38 ). Five of the top 10 cited papers in Table 5 focus on genetic variation, suggesting that over the past decade, research has shifted from a general concept of genetic risk to the different types of genetic variations associated with autism.

Simon Baron-Cohen of the Autism Research Center at the University of Cambridge was the most published author between 2011 and 2021. He contributed to the mind-blindness hypothesis of autism, developed the autism spectrum quotient (AQ) screening tool for autism, and focused on gender differences in autism ( 39 – 41 ). There are gender/sex differences in the volume and tissue density of brain regions, including the amygdala, hippocampus, and insula, and the heart-blind hypothesis links emotional recognition in individuals with autism to deficits in the amygdala ( 41 – 43 ). Then, Simon et al. backed up the “extreme male brain” theory of autism in a study of 36,000 autistic individuals aged 16–89 ( 44 ). Recently, an increasing number of studies from different perspectives have focused on how sex/gender differences are related to autism ( 4 , 5 , 45 ). In the future, studies of neural dimorphism in brain development in autism need to be conducted across the lifespan to reduce age-induced biases ( 41 ).

Hotspots and Frontiers

Keyword analysis was a major indicator for research trends and hotspot analysis. This study shows that keywords for autism research include etiological mechanism, clinical characteristics, and intervention characteristics. Genetic, environmental, epigenetic, brain structure, neuropathological, and immunological factors have contributed to studying its etiological mechanism ( 46 , 47 ). The studies on the abnormal cortical development in ASD have reported early brain overgrowth ( 48 ), reduced resting cerebral blood flow in the medial PFC and anterior cingulate ( 49 ), focal disruption of neuronal migration ( 50 ), and transcriptomic alterations in the cerebral cortex of autism ( 51 ). Genomics studies have identified several variants and genes that increase susceptibility to autism, affecting biological pathways related to chromatin remodeling, regulation of neuronal function, and synaptic development ( 51 – 54 ). In addition, many autism-related genes are enriched in cortical glutamatergic neurons, and mutations in the genes encoding these proteins result in neuronal excitation-inhibitory balance ( 51 , 55 ). A recent study using single-cell sequencing of the developing human cerebral cortex found strong cell-type-specific enrichment of noncoding mutations in ASD ( 56 ). Interestingly, genes interact with the environment; some studies have shown that environmental exposure during pregnancy is a risk factor for brain development ( 57 ), and there are changes in DNA methylation in the brains of ASD patients, reflecting an underlying epigenetic dysregulation.

Presently, the diagnosis of ASD is mainly based on symptoms and behaviors, but the disease has a high clinical heterogeneity, and the individual differences between patients are obvious ( 58 ). In this study, the keywords of the intervention cluster show the importance of early individualized intervention. Patient data are multidimensional, and individualized diagnoses could be made at multiple levels, such as age, gender, clinical characteristics, and genetic characteristics ( 59 ). Early individual genetic diagnosis aids clinical evaluation, ranging from chromosomal microarray (CMA) to fragile X genetic testing ( 60 ). However, the results of genetic research cannot guide the treatment. Notably, the treatment of autism is dominated by educational practices and behavioral interventions ( 61 ). Medication may address other co-occurring conditions, such as sleep disturbances, epilepsy, and gastrointestinal dysfunction ( 9 ). Professor Catherine Lord pointed out that the future of autism requires coordinated, large-scale research to develop affordable, individualized, staged assessments and interventions for people with ASD ( 62 ). Professor Baron-Cohen noted that increasing the sample size and collecting data from the same individual multiple times could reduce heterogeneity ( 58 ). In addition, screening for objective and valid biomarkers in the future would help to stratify diagnosis and reduce heterogeneity.

According to the keyword trend analysis of 100 highly cited documents, the genetic risk of autism was determined as the hot focus of research, and immune dysregulation and gut microbiome are the new development frontiers after 2015. Patients with ASD have altered immune function, microglia activation was observed in postmortem brain samples, and increased production of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines was observed in cerebrospinal fluid. The microglia are involved in synaptic pruning, and cytokines also affect neuronal migration and axonal projections ( 63 – 65 ). In addition, abnormal peripheral immune responses during pregnancy might affect the developing brain, increasing likelihood of autism ( 66 ). Several studies have pointed to abnormalities in immune-related genes in the brain and peripheral blood of autistic patients ( 51 , 67 , 68 ). Immune dysfunction is involved in the etiology of ASD and mediates the accompanying symptoms of autism. The patients have multiple immune-related diseases, asthma, allergic rhinitis, Crohn’s disease, and gastrointestinal dysfunction ( 69 – 71 ). Children with frequent gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain, gas, constipation, or diarrhea, had pronounced social withdrawal and stereotyped behavior ( 70 – 72 ). Several studies suggested that these autism-related gastrointestinal problems might be related to intestinal microbiota composition ( 72 – 74 ). Accumulating evidence suggested that the microbiota-gut-brain axis influences human neurodevelopment, a complex system involving immune, metabolic, and vagal pathways in which bacterial metabolites directly affect the brain by disrupting the gut and blood–brain barrier ( 75 – 78 ). Fecal samples from children with autism contained high Clostridium species and low Bifidobacterium species ( 79 , 80 ). Probiotics can modulate gut microbiota structure and increase the relative abundance of Bifidobacteria , and clinical studies have shown that supplementation with probiotic strains improves attention problems in children with autism ( 81 , 82 ). Recent clinical trials have shown that microbiota transfer therapy improves gastrointestinal symptoms and autism-like behaviors in children with ASD ( 83 , 84 ).

This scientometric study comprehensively analyzes about a decade of global autism research. Research in the field of autism is increasing, with the United States making outstanding contributions, while neuroscience, genetics, brain imaging studies, or studies of the gut microbiome deepen our understanding of the disorder. The study of the brain-gut axis elucidates the mechanism of immunology in autism, and immunological research may be in the renaissance. The current data serve as a valuable resource for studying ASD. However, the future of autism needs further development. In the future, relevant research should be included for a complete representation of the entire autism population, and further collaboration between individuals, institutions, and countries is expected to accelerate the development of autism research.

Data availability statement

Author contributions.

MJ, DZ, JL, and LW conceived and designed the study. MJ, TL, XL, KY, and LZ contributed to data collection and data analysis. MJ wrote the original manuscript. DZ, JL, and LW revised the article and contributed to the final version of the manuscript. All authors contributed to the article and approved the submitted version.

This work was supported by grants from the Key-Area Research and Development Program of Guangdong Province (2019B030335001) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 82171537, 81971283, 82071541, and 81730037).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher’s note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Supplementary material

The Supplementary material for this article can be found online at: https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1096769/full#supplementary-material

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Exploring autism spectrum disorder: a comparative study of traditional classifiers and deep learning classifiers to analyze functional connectivity measures from a multicenter dataset.

1. Introduction

2. materials and methods, 2.1. data selection, 2.2. feature generation, 2.3. harmonization procedure, 2.4. classification strategy, 2.5. feature importance, 3.1. classification performances, 3.2. feature importance, 4. discussion, 5. conclusions, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, conflicts of interest, abbreviations.

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Mainas, F.; Golosio, B.; Retico, A.; Oliva, P. Exploring Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Study of Traditional Classifiers and Deep Learning Classifiers to Analyze Functional Connectivity Measures from a Multicenter Dataset. Appl. Sci. 2024 , 14 , 7632. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177632

Mainas F, Golosio B, Retico A, Oliva P. Exploring Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Study of Traditional Classifiers and Deep Learning Classifiers to Analyze Functional Connectivity Measures from a Multicenter Dataset. Applied Sciences . 2024; 14(17):7632. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177632

Mainas, Francesca, Bruno Golosio, Alessandra Retico, and Piernicola Oliva. 2024. "Exploring Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Comparative Study of Traditional Classifiers and Deep Learning Classifiers to Analyze Functional Connectivity Measures from a Multicenter Dataset" Applied Sciences 14, no. 17: 7632. https://doi.org/10.3390/app14177632

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• Literature Review on Autism Spectrum Disorder Words: 2144
• Autism and Other Neurological Disorders Words: 913
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Communication Words: 1445
• Autism Spectrum Disorder Analysis Words: 1772
• Childhood Disorders: Autism Spectrum Disorders Words: 586
• Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders Words: 955
• Social Science Perspectives on the Autism Spectrum Words: 1753
• Contributing Factors of Anxiety in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Words: 5264
• Autism Spectrum Disorder and Dialogue Framework Words: 1095
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Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Literature Review

Introduction.

Autism is a disorder that science has not yet studied thoroughly, although it is a common problem in society. Therapists have only partially learned how to diagnose it, understand the causes of its occurrence, and evaluate its impact on human life. However, although autism is a poorly studied illness, the knowledge available to scientists allows them to adjust and regulate its effect on a person and reduce its manifestations in adulthood.

Autism is a broad concept for social perception as it covers several diverse abnormalities associated with a person’s behavioral characteristics. Scientifically, it is correct to talk about this disease as an autism spectrum disorder because scientists classify various types of ASD depending on the symptoms and degree of their manifestation. However, in general, autism is the deficit of social communication and the repeated sensory-motor behaviors that arise due to some genetic or other reasons (Lord, Elsabbagh, Baird, &, Veenstra-Vanderweele, 2018). This definition demonstrates that although society often attributes autism to a disease that affects a person’s intellectual abilities, it is a disorder that affects social functions. Moreover, people with autism, on the contrary, show fantastic intellectual skills in certain areas, such as mathematics, art, or history.

Today, autistic people can get a higher education, find a job, create a family, and live like ordinary members of society, if their external symptoms of the disorder are manifested to a mild degree. However, they may also have difficulty with social communication, being in public places, and even everyday routine, if autism has a higher degree of manifestation. For example, loud sounds or crowds can scare a person who has a problem with sensory perception, even if his or her intellectual abilities are highly developed. In addition, in some cases, people with autism can have speech disorders, repetitive moves of their limbs, or experience cramps, which impedes their independent life. However, autistic people are most often full members of society if they use the right approach to the treatment and development of social and commutative skills.

In recent years, the number of people with autistic disorders has increased both in the world and in the United States (Sealeya et al., 2016). However, this trend can be associated with an improvement in the quality of diagnosis and early detection of the disorder in children. For example, according to Kitzerow, Teufel, Wilker, and Freitag (2015), the method of brief observation of social communication change helps measure autism symptoms and has noticeable results. This approach to the study and measurement facilitated early intervention in the development of autism and the elimination of its external manifestations. Such a change in methods of evaluation and treatment means that, in some cases, the intellectual and social development of autism can be as successful as in a person without a disorder. There are also other ways for determining autism that doctors usually use for diagnosis, and they are based on symptoms that manifest at different stages of a person’s life. These methods vary depending on the focus on certain secularities of the individual’s development and his or her interaction with the outside world.

Symptoms are conditionally divided into sensory, communicative, and social, since they can manifest themselves in different ways depending on the stage and characteristics of development. Social symptoms are expressed in the inability of the child or the adult to maintain social connections, communicate with people, and recognize their emotions. Young children may not respond well to their names and avoid interactions with their parents. Communicative symptoms in children are manifested in the repetition of phrases, inability to focus on the topic of conversation, and answer questions. Sensory symptoms are associated with a weak or intensified reaction to light, sound, smell, and other external stimuli. A repeating gesture or action is also a visible manifestation of the disorder. Parents and doctors can diagnose autism by using these indicators in the early stages and preventing its further development.

However, despite an extensive study of the manifestations of autism, scientists still find it challenging to determine the causes of such disorders. Researchers note that autism spectrum disorders are strongly associated with genetic causes (Lord et al., 2018). This statement means that a gene mutation can cause autism; however, this issue has not yet been studied enough to claim a direct relationship between any genetic characteristics and the occurrence of the disorder. According to another study, environmental factors such as synthetic, neurochemical, and aromatic chemicals can cause autistic disorders by affecting the fetus (Sealeya et al., 2016). The influence of environmental factors is a possible reason for autism, but an exact list with proven facts and data still does not exist. At the same time, the common stereotype that vaccines cause autism is false, since multiple studies confirm the lack of connection between these two factors. There are also suggestions that moral pressure, as well as psychological trauma, can also cause developmental delays and symptoms of autism (Sealeya et al., 2016). Thus, the uncertainty of the data limits methods for preventing autism, as they cannot affect the causes.

Nevertheless, some practices help develop the social, communicative, and motor functions of a person and minimize the impact of autism on human life. In the case of autistic people, a timely diagnosis is essential for treatment, since young children are most susceptible to learning and therapy, but the process of developing abilities becomes more difficult in adulthood. Recent studies show that identifying sensory symptoms is one of the most effective as it helps detect autism at an early age (Robertson & Baron-Cohen, 2017). The process of treatment can include medication to decrease insomnia and convulsions, general therapy, and training to develop social and communicative skills. Therapy is also aimed at eliminating fears and panic states because of loud noises or bright light. Bruin, Blom, Smit, Ja van Steensel, and Bögels (2015) discovered that mindfulness training for adolescents and their parents leads to an improvement in the quality of life and social communication of adolescents with autistic disorders. Other therapeutic interventions are also an effective alternative; however, they have to consider the peculiarities of each autistic disorder.

In conclusion, autism is a disorder that manifests itself in problems of the social, communicative, and sensory abilities of a person. This disorder is not associated with intellectual impairment, and vice versa, autistic people, often exhibit highly developed skills. The reasons for the emergence of this problem have not been sufficiently studied by science, so the possibilities for its prevention are also limited. However, there are many methods of treating and controlling the symptoms of autism that help people to improve their skills, interact in society, and live their life like ordinary men and women with typical development.

• Bruin, E., Blom, R., Smit, F., Ja van Steensel, F., & Bögels, S. (2015) MYmind: Mindfulness training for youngsters with autism spectrum disorders and their parents . Autism, 19 (8), 906-914
• Kitzerow, J., Teufel, K., Wilker, C., & Freitag, C. M. (2015) Using the brief observation of social communication change (BOSCC) to measure autism‐specific development. Autism Research, 9 (9) , 940-950.
• Lord, C., Elsabbagh, M., Baird, G., & Veenstra-Vanderweele, J. (2018). Autism spectrum disorder. The Lancet , 392 (10146) , 508–520.
• Robertson, C.E. & Baron-Cohen, S. (2017). Sensory perception in autism. Nature Reviews Neuroscience , 18 , 671–684.
• Sealeya, L.A., Hughesa, B.W., Sriskandaa, A.N., Guesta, J.R., Gibsona, A.D., Johnson-Williamsa, L., Paceb, D.G., & Bagasraa, O. (2016). Environmental factors in the development of autism spectrum disorders. Environment International, 88, 288-298.

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Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Autism — Education of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Education of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (asd)

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Autism Spectrum Disorder

Case study description.

This poster describes an eight-year-old boy called Jim. While at the psychiatric room, Dr. Meddy, together with Jim’s mother, entered the consultation room for a consultation to examine what could be the issue with the second-born child in the family. Just before the Dr. expresses her observation about Jim, the child is so restless and wailing so loudly that everyone in the room gets amused and distracted from their activities. It took so long for Jim to calm down, and we could observe that the child was suffering from a mental defect. The mother tried her best to get Jim arrested for such restlessness, but it was not easy as Jim was moving up and down, running all over the room, becoming chaotic, and pulling the cushions. Apart from the behavioral aspects, Jim was also very slow in recognizing some of the preliminary figures and objects and could not correctly pronounce some of the syllables properly, thus making it difficult for him to engage in propitiate play with his peers and participate in school activities. The parent was so concerned and ensured that she took immediate action to diagnose the problem Jim could be enduring. Jim was then diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD).

Jim’s case of ASD and his symptoms depict the DSM-5 criteria for ASD. For example, Jim has poor verbal and non-verbal communication that prevents him from constructing complete sentences at school and during play sessions. The DMS-5 also requires that for an individual child to pursue a diagnosis of ASD, one must be experiencing restricted behaviors in communication that include having poor body language as well as the lack of maintained eye contact during a one–on–one conversation (Eslami et al., 2021). In addition, Jim shows symptom of the social repository that includes behaving in a way that is not normal for a healthy individual. Jim was fond of creating chaos in the consultation room; He also showed a lack of interest in responding to the mother trying to calm him down, achieving the DMS-5 classification criteria for ASD. In addition, Jim’s ASD condition meets the DMS-5 classification since he cannot adjust to social relationships and behave in a way that will help maintain, develop, and understand such social contexts of relationships (Eslami et al., 2021). Jim also shows repetitive movements that apply to the DMS-5 criteria, such as the increased and repetitive motor movement that includes using objects and flipping objects that caused the chaos observed.

Courses on Autism and the existence

While interacting with Jim’s mother, she remembered that Jim began to suffer from the disorder immediately six months after birth since she experienced certain complications. Eight years later, Jim has been suffering from behavioral issues that made the mother visit the hospital for assistance, where she was informed about the child who has ASD.

Possible Causes of ASD

According to the DMS-5 and other recognized mental health articles, there are no clear causes of Autism Spectrum Disorder(ASD) hence leading to various hypothetical pieces of evidence to describe various possible causes of ASD. Therefore, there is significant hypothetical evidence describing the possible causes that include; genetic, environmental, and biological aspects.

The genetic factors are those that study the homozygous twins as having a close relationship with ASD. Autism is a genetic disorder that can be inherited from one individual to another within members of the same family tree, making individuals from such families much more susceptible to the disease than any other general population. The evidence on the possibility of genetic causes of ASD is still not standalone and primarily relies on other factors. Additionally, environmental factors are a significant cause of ADS, especially for the child. Children born during unfavorable periods at birth may have ASD caused by poor environmental conditions (Hodges et al., 2020). Such unfavorable environmental conditions at birth may include suffering from mechanical damages resulting from poor handling of the newborn by the mother or the midwife.

The biological factors are those related to neurological compositional and gender. Most studies on the cause of ADS show that female children with more grey matter in their brains have the highest susceptibility to ADS. Other female subjects with ADS also showed a higher cortical volume and an increased cerebellar volume (Hodges et al., 2020). A similar study on the general population with limited cerebellar volume and limited grey matter shows they are too susceptible to ADS. In addition, there is a possibility that the Purkinje cells in the brain are a factor causing the disorder. Individuals with fewer of these cells show more fantastic positive results of ADS (Manning et al., 2020). inactivation of the frontal lobe is also a significant cause of the disorder since there is no proper coordination of the information received by the nerve cells within the brain’s frontal lobe, including cognitive and motor impulses.

DMS-5 diagnostic criteria show that ASD affects individuals differently, but the primary baseline of its impacts is on their behavioral life. In most cases, DMS-5 recommends that the diagnosis of the disorder should exist before the child reaches six years so that adequate behavioral, cognitive, and intellectual aspects of the abnormal behaviors of the child can be visible. It is also vital for the diagnosis of ASD to first analyze the differential diagnosis. Other disorders exhibit similar symptoms of ASD, such as Schizophrenia (Hopwood, 2019), Avoidant Personality Disorder, and Social Communication Disorder. As a result, to dismiss this differential diagnosis, it is essential first to carry out a diagnosis of intellectual development or delay that is not always present in this differential diagnosis. Other forms of diagnosis for ASD include; past behaviors and persistent current behavior across many setting that shows a shortfall in social and emotional stability in maintaining close relationships.

Moreover, individuals with ASD show aspects of a lack of interest in daily activities with an extreme inflexibility that originates from poor sensory alertness (Hopwood, 2019). Classifying ASD involves using DMS-5 classification criteria from levels one to three. Level one implies that the individual needs support, especially from the family member. In contrast, the third level is more severe, and the individual requires more substantial assistance, especially from the medical personnel. Some of the assessment data that Jim presented include the age of eight, but the child cannot pronounce syllables of words correctly. In addition, the repetitive behaviors, including the flipping of objects with chaotic behavior, clearly reflect the ASD diagnosis in this case study.

Nursing interventions

There rea three nursing interventions for individuals suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorders, i.e., behavioral, communication, and medical interventions. Behavioral interventions include the use of Hippotherapy(HPT), which applies the use of equine movement techniques that offer therapeutic benefits. The nurses can use the HPT on the patient for 45 minutes weekly for about 12 weeks. When properly used by the nurse, the HPT shows improved postural control additive behaviors (Manning et al., 2020). in addition, communication interventions involve strategies that help enhance the patient’s cognitive or learning aspect. They include; participating in social skills organized by the therapist. The therapist thus groups children suffering from similar strategies of the disorder together and leads them in the social training programs that will, at long last, help them improve their interaction and communication skills. Evidence of the success of this intervention shows that it has been successfully used in clinical and school settings to increase positive interactions, autistic behaviors, and social skills.

Medications

The primary type of medications that can help in the treatment of ASD are Antipsychotic drugs. Some therapeutic drugs used in treating ASD involve Antipsychotic drugs such as risperidone, clozapine, and paliperidone, which all help treat psychosis. These antipsychotic drugs, therefore, are used in the treatment of ASD because they can arrest irritability and other behaviors that may initiate self-injury and aggression. In addition, antipsychotic drugs prevent stereotyped and hyperactive behaviors by blocking the DAD2 receptors that are inhibitory factors for G-protein.

Other therapeutic interventions

Apart from the medical interventions, other treatment inventions are applicable for those experiencing chemical allergies present in some drugs. Occupational therapies help train ASD patients on specific skills to enable independent living. For example, sensory integration is a therapy used to improve an individual’s response to sensory input that may overwhelm the patient. In addition, occupational therapies include physical therapy that enables the activity of the physical body muscles, bones, and joints towards enhancing coordinated movement (Nurnberger, 2019). Other non-medical interventions include; participating in social stories, social group activities, and relationship development strategies. Alternative and complementary treatment models that include herbal and art therapies (musical dance) are also applied.

The use of art therapy for the treatment of ASD has been in existence for many years, especially in Asian countries (Manning et al., 2020). The musical dance enables ASD patients to identify and express their emotions appropriately. Music processing always occurs in the brain’s two hemispheres; it must help provide appropriate language and speech development. Since dance is a form of movement and therapy, it facilitates the involvement of the whole body and the brain in connecting with music. It is also valuable for treating ASD since it carries no cultural barriers and only expresses the emotional aspects of the individual. Most ASD patients suffer from stigmatization, and it is too difficult to assist them in the contemporary environment without feeling belittled. Music and dance are, therefore, valuable aspects of therapy that will not discriminate against them based on their inability to construct verbal communication clearly for identification.

Special considerations

There are special considerations needed when dealing with children or elderly patients. Children with ASD require special treatment from their parents and caregivers since they are too vulnerable to control. They require adequate support with time management, relationships, information, and materials needed for movement. Children are still at low development stages and require parents to support them in developing proper communication and movement skills (Nurnberger, 2019). On the other hand, older adults with ASD have become weak and require immediate care from family members. Since they cannot move long distances, it is essential to have close family members taking care of them at the residential homes through constant collaboration with the professionals who understand the etiology and physiopathology of Autism, including preventing falls.

Eslami, T., Raiker, J. S., & Saeed, F. (2021). Explainable and scalable machine learning algorithms for detecting autism spectrum disorder using fMRI data.  Neural Engineering Techniques for Autism Spectrum Disorder , 39-54. https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-822822-7.00004-1

Hodges, H., Fealko, C., & Soares, N. (2020). Autism spectrum disorder: Definition, epidemiology, causes, and clinical evaluation.  Translational Pediatrics ,  9 (S1), S55-S65.  https://doi.org/10.21037/tp.2019.09.09

Hopwood, C. J. (2019). Research and Assessment with the AMPD.  The DSM-5 Alternative Model for Personality Disorders , 77-95. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315205076

Manning, J., Billian, J., Matson, J., Allen, C., & Soares, N. (2020). Perceptions of families of individuals with autism spectrum disorder during the COVID-19 crisis.  Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders ,  51 (8), 2920–2928. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-020-04760-5

Nurnberger, J. (2019). Faculty opinions recommend identifying common genetic risk variants for autism spectrum disorder.  Faculty Opinions – Post-Publication Peer Review of the Biomedical Literature . https://doi.org/10.3410/f.735152734.793563005

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How parents and school communities can support autistic children as they head back to class

Canada Research Chair, Neuroscience & Learning Disorders, Associate Professor, Western University

PhD Student, School and Applied Child Psychology, Western University

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Returning to school can present new opportunities along with concerns and challenges.

As families with autistic children prepare for the new school year, their concerns could include determining that necessary accommodations and supports are in place at school, helping children transition from a summer routine to a structured school day and finding ways to support social integration with their new classmates.

For parents of autistic children, addressing children’s potential anxiety or sensory triggers and having a plan to manage transitions are steps parents can take to promote a successful start to the school year.

For school communities, fostering an inclusive environment is key to ensuring all children, including those with autism, can thrive both academically and socially.

Autistic children at school

Autistic children represent a distinct group of learners and can face challenges in the school environment, which may not have optimal supports in place for neurodiverse learners .

Read more: World Autism Day -- let's allow disability to change our societies for the better

Autism Spectrum Disorder is present in one in 50 (two per cent) of Canadian children and youth . While all children are unique, and people on the spectrum experience differences in their traits and levels of functioning, autistic children can have specific interests, engage in repetitive behaviours and be more sensitive to lights and sounds. Autistic children can also face challenges with social interactions or understanding thoughts and feelings of others. While repetition can help children learn, for autistic children, routines and predictability are especially important .

Challenges receiving accommodations, services

School absenteeism is common in autistic children . While some research attributes this to health conditions in some individuals, some factors may be specific for autistic children who are statistically more likely to face early adversity : the more severely affected a child is by autism, the greater the likelihood they will be exposed to early life stressors.

Limited accommodations or services in the school environment may also influence children’s absenteeism . Accommodations could include adjustments to the physical environment, modified assignments or classroom supports. Research about adolescent autistic girls’ experiences has documented how low attendance can be associated with internalized anxiety and a desire to avoid school.

Benefits of collaboration, social supports

Research shows that parents who work in collaboration with educators to support autistic children can achieve many positive benefits. For example, early family involvement in interventions has been shown to significantly improve long-term academic outcomes , highlighting the lasting impact of active parental participation.

Read more: Navigating special education labels is complex, and it matters for education equity

Building social supports for autistic children within their communities outside of school can also have positive impacts across many areas. For example, community organizations offer programming for autistic children and youth that can help them to build social skills, learn skills of daily living and participate in therapeutic recreation. Programs like these are associated with better social communication skills for autistic children.

Parent, parent-child, advocacy groups

Parent groups can also be effective in promoting positive outcomes for autistic children and their families.

Parents who participated in clinician-led groups that teach the principles of evidence-based practices such as acceptance and commitment therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy or mindfulness have reported experiencing less stress .

Alternatively, parent-child groups can teach parents and children in tandem about mental health issues such as anxiety, so parents and children can work together to implement interventions at home. The skills taught in therapy are reinforced at home, where the child spends a large chunk of their day. To reach maximum potential, collaboration with the child’s school team can also be beneficial.

Not-for-profit autism and autism-advocacy groups often provide resources that can also help parents navigate school systems and advocate for their child.

Better sleep

Parents can make changes within the home to reduce stress for children before the school year starts. One area of targeted intervention is sleep. Better sleep quality is associated with higher levels of resilience , meaning that people who sleep for longer periods of time without interruption are better able to cope with difficult circumstances.

Conversely, a lack of sleep is associated with lower cognitive performance, difficulties with emotional regulation and physical health. Autistic children experience additional side-effects of reduced sleep , such as lowered social communication skills. Because of the change in routine, re-entering school can aggravate sleep challenges often faced by autistic children and their families. To help combat this, parents can incorporate behavioural sleep interventions within their child’s bedtime routine to promote healthy sleep.

In a recent study, bedtime fading and positive routines have been shown to improve sleep quality and sleep duration in autistic children. Bedtime fading involves moving the child’s bedtime to as close as possible to when they would naturally fall asleep, and then gradually moving the bedtime earlier over time.

By doing this, the body naturally associates being in bed with falling asleep quickly. Such routines before bedtime can include any calming, positive experiences which occur in the same order over approximately 30-40 minutes before bed. Establishing these routines before the start of school can ensure that children are consistently well-rested once school begins.

Parents’ support

Parents and caregivers play a key role in how their children experience and relate to the world around them. Because autistic children are at higher risk for experiencing anxiety and challenges at school, having a positive relationship with a parent or caregiver is especially important. Research has found that a consistent and encouraging parenting style is a protective factor for autistic children and can offset the negative impacts of stressful life experiences.

When parents can remain calm and supportive while their child is experiencing “big emotions,” children learn these skills and they can better cope with challenges. Emotional regulation skills can help children to relate more positively when interacting with their peers and the academic demands in the classroom.

Schools fostering sense of belonging

Supporting autistic children at school doesn’t only refer to their academic achievement. When school environments promote healthy peer relationships, this can also help children with autism have a sense of belonging at the school and promote well-being.

Play-based or function-based support strategies along with having visual supports and promoting self monitoring at school are promising avenues to promote positive social interactions for autistic children with peers.

These types of support strategies led by peers in the classroom or teachers can offer opportunities to promote social interactions at school.

Both parents and school communities can play important roles helping autistic children to thrive.

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Elliott Echoes: A story about Autism Spectrum Disorder and the function of Echolalia Paperback – August 13, 2024

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