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Autism research at the crossroads

By bobb |

Brady Huggett

In April of 2021, Emilie Wigdor finished up a paper titled “The female protective effect against autism spectrum disorder” and put it on the pre-print server medRxiv. Wigdor is a Ph.D. student in human genetics at the University of Cambridge and the Wellcome Sanger Institute in the United Kingdom, and the paper had taken three years to complete. It was also the first paper on which she was first author. She was proud of that, and she took to Twitter to promote the work in an 11-part thread.

6 Early Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Children

By bobb |

Ugo Uche

How to recognize early signs of autism.

Key points

  • Difficulty with social interaction is the most prominent sign of autism, yet it's easy to miss in early childhood.
  • A lack of eye contact is directly related to social deficiencies.
  • Children with autism often aren't interested in the games or play that most neurotypical children engage in.

Autism is a condition that tends to be rather difficult to diagnose. There is a saying that if you've met a child with autism, well, you've met one child with autism, because each one is vastly different. This is why it's defined as a spectrum of signs and symptoms that fall under the umbrella of the same category.

'Only home he knows’: Family facing deportation over son’s autism seeks minister's intervention

By bobb |
Seongjae Lim was born at Mater Mothers' Hospital in Brisbane in 2014. Credit: Supplied

The Lim family is facing a struggle to stay in Australia after the residency application for their son was rejected on medical grounds. They are now seeking intervention from Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil to be allowed to stay permanently.

Key Points

  • The Lim family’s permanent residency application was denied due to son Seongjae’s medical condition
  • They are now seeking ministerial intervention to remain permanently in Australia
  • An online petition has been launched to drum up support for the family’s appeal to Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil

Hyunsin Lim and his wife Yoojin Yang hoped to provide a ‘safe and fulfilling' life for their two children in regional Australia.

From deficits to a spectrum, thinking around autism has changed. Now there are calls for a ‘profound autism’ diagnosis

By bobb |

This article by Professor Andrew Whitehouse, Bennet Chair of Autism at Telethon Kids Institute and from The University of Western Australia originally appeared in The Conversation on November 9, 2022.

A heated debate about autism was reignited after the recent publication of an article advocating for use of the term “profound autism”.

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