Autism Article Round-Up: April 2020 part 2

What Causes Autism?
by Nicholette Zeliadt
April 20, 2020

From genes to environment, experts have identified several factors that influence a child’s chance of having autism. But risk is not destiny, they say.


In the past 50 years, scientists have compiled a short list of factors, including certain genes, premature birth, and some medications, that might contribute to autism. 

Still, there is no way to prevent a child from having autism, in large part because experts don’t actually know what causes it in most people. “We can find many, many factors that are correlated with autism,” said Dr. Katarzyna Chawarska, Ph.D., professor of child psychiatry at Yale University’s Child Study Center. “But in reality, we really don’t know if they’re involved in the cause of autism.”

It’s also important to note that many autistic people and their families see autism as something to be celebrated. And that traits of autism exist in everyone. “Many of them, whether you have autism or not, may very well give you something that’s positive,” such as an intense passion for certain subjects and a keen eye for detail, said Ed Cook, M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

One thing is certain: There’s no one single cause of autism, and every case is the product of multiple factors working together.

[...] studies have shown autism runs in families and have put its heritability at around 80 percent, or about as heritable as height or eye color.

“There’s certainly a lot of things we don’t know about the causes of autism,” Dr. Carbone [pediatrician and associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Utah] said. “But one thing that we absolutely are sure of is that parents don’t cause autism.”

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Research on facial expressions challenges the way we think about autism

April 27, 2020

Autism researchers are starting to think that autistic and non-autistic faces may “speak a different language” when conveying emotion. This could mean the “social difficulties” often associated with autism may, at least partly, result from differences in the facial expressions produced by autistic and non-autistic people. It means we may need to re-think the idea that autistic people have difficulties with expressing their emotions and instead consider that non-autistic people may have trouble reading them.

Since interactions are necessarily at least two-way, it’s important that we also think about how well neurotypical people read autistic facial expressions.

The findings from two recent studies suggest that many neurotypical people find it difficult to read and interpret the facial expressions and body movements of autistic people.

So why do neurotypical and autistic people struggle to read each other’s facial expressions? One reason could be that autistic and neurotypical people produce different facial expressions.

When feeling sad, for example, an autistic person might move their face into an expression that would not be used by most neurotypical people – per the video below. Because this expression is different from what a neurotypical person may expect to see, they might not recognise that the autistic person is feeling sad.

It may be time to reframe the idea of “social difficulties” in autism and shift away from the idea of “deficit” towards one of “difference” between autistic-neurotypical interactions.

Autism Article Round-Up: April 2020

Autism Canada is introducing a new bi-weekly Newsletter titled Sharing the Spectrum! Launch date is Tuesday, April 21st 2020 and you can subscribe here.

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For Years, Experts Assumed This Autistic Boy Couldn’t Understand Them. Now He’s Written A Novel That Proves Everyone Wrong.
by J. Swanson

[...] our understanding of autism hasn’t kept pace with its skyrocketing growth, at least not according to Ido Kedar, a non-verbal autistic young man who spent the first 7 seven years of his life unable to speak, sign, emote, or communicate with the outside world in any way.

Kedar’s second book, In Two Worlds: A Novel, also challenges the many misconceptions surrounding non-speaking autism through the eyes of a fictional boy named Anthony. (His memoir, Ido in Autismland, was written as a teen after learning to type on an iPad, despite the many “experts” who said it couldn’t be done.)

For Kedar, who also blogs about autism on his website, Ido In Austismland, writing a novel was a way to portray autism from different angles while exploring a new creative outlet.

In Two Worlds introduces readers to the lonely, isolating reality of non-speaking autistics, who are unable to communicate, constantly misunderstood, bombarded by sensory output, and frustrated by years of baby talk, misdiagnosis, and remedial education.

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Dad Offers Resources To Parents Who Suddenly Have To Teach Their Autistic Children At Home

by C. Dixon

The coronavirus has caused many schools to switch to online learning or shutter altogether for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year. This has shifted parents into a teacher role at home — and it’s not easy for anyone.

While every parent has to deal with the sudden change (some while also juggling full-time jobs), parents of children with autism or special needs are taking on even more. Not only are they their child’s teacher now, but they may have to also act the part of speech therapist, occupational therapist, and more.

David Warner is the father of a nine-year-old boy with autism. [...] 

Wanting to help other families in a similar situation, Warner partnered with Dr. Amanda Kelly, a behavior analyst, to help get the word out to families about useful resources.

Dr. Kelly has included a lengthy list of resources on her website, such as links offering virtual field trips and tours, google docs full of different activities and experiments, Facebook pages to follow, and even a daily schedule chart that you can fill out to add more structure to the day for your child.

Autism Article Round-Up: March 2020

Girls and autism: Why are so many going undiagnosed?
Research suggests disorder often manifests differently in girls with many missing out on vital support
by Michelle McBride
March 3, 2020

Research suggests that four times as many boys than girls have autism, with that ratio dropping to twice as many when an intellectual disability is taken into account, but some now also believe that not all girls with autism are being diagnosed.

Kirsten Hurley, lecturer in autism studies in UCC, was 22 when she was diagnosed with autism and agrees that masking can be exhausting.

Before she received her diagnosis, Hurley struggled in school and college and felt there was something wrong with her. She was a bright student, but her behaviour served to frustrate her teachers as opposed to flag her autism.

The lower number of girls diagnosed with autism limits the impact they have on how autism is understood.

“If you have a group of people for a study and most of them are male and you derive your understanding of autism from that group of people, then you have criteria completely skewed towards the male aspects of autism,” says Hurley.

Other studies indicate the existence of gender bias. The research shows that girls were less likely to receive a diagnosis even if their symptoms were as severe as boys.

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Vans Celebrates People on the Autism Spectrum with New Sensory Friendly Footwear
by Elizabeth Nelson



It’s common for people with autism (and sometimes even people who are not on the spectrum) to be sensitive to sensory input. This manifests itself in different ways for different people, but it’s common for people with autism to dislike loud noises and particular textures in their food or clothing. There may be other textures and visual effects, however, that they find particularly pleasing and can’t get enough of.

With their new line of shoes, Vans hopes to cater to this sensory-sensitive group by taking away the negative sensory stimuli that are commonly found in footwear (such as tags and seams that can poke the foot) and add positive ones instead.