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Unpacking the complex nature of the autism epidemic

This paper discusses changes in diagnostic criteria, decreasing age at diagnosis, improved case ascertainment, diagnostic substitution, and social influences.

Adult psychosocial outcomes of children with specific language impairment, pragmatic language impairment and autism

Evidence that some children also develop autistic symptomatology over time has raised suggestions that developmental language disorder...

Cerebral dominance for language function in adults with specific language impairment or autism

A link between developmental language disorders and atypical cerebral lateralization has been postulated since the 1920s, but evidence has been indirect and...

Do children with autism 'switch off' to speech sounds? An investigation using event-related potentials

Autism is a disorder characterized by a core impairment in social behaviour. A prominent component of this social deficit is poor orienting to speech.

Autism and diagnostic substitution: Evidence from a study of adults with a history of developmental language disorder

Rates of diagnosis of autism have risen since 1980, raising the question of whether some children who previously had other diagnoses are now being diagnosed...

Evidence against poor semantic encoding in individuals with autism

This article tests the hypothesis that individuals with autism poorly encode verbal information to the semantic level of processing, instead paying greater...

The perspectives of autistic adolescents and their parents on sleep strategies for insomnia

Autistic adolescents are vulnerable to sleep difficulties, with up to 80 % experiencing sleep problems, most commonly insomnia. Little is known about how autistic adolescents are involved in their own sleep treatment, and their depth of knowledge about their sleep difficulties. The aims of this study were to investigate autistic adolescent and parent perspectives of experiencing and managing insomnia, and what factors influence the development of these perspectives on insomnia and treatment. 

Protocol for a feasibility and acceptability trial of Bloom, a co-produced and co-facilitated parent group to enhance the quality of life and well-being of young autistic children

The autistic and autism communities have identified improving the quality of life and well-being of autistic people as a key priority. Despite this, to date, there are no evidence-based supports for autistic children which specifically focus on improvements in these areas.

Bridging the gap: unveiling key links between autism and anxiety symptoms in autistic children and youth using a network analysis in pooled data from four countries

Autistic children experience significantly higher rates of anxiety compared to nonautistic children. The precise relations between autism characteristics and anxiety symptoms remain unclear in this population. Previous work has explored associations at the domain level, which involve examining broad categories or clusters of symptoms, rather than the relationships between specific symptoms and/or individual characteristics. We addressed this gap by taking a network approach to understand the shared structure of autism characteristics and anxiety symptoms.

Sertraline for anxiety in adults with a diagnosis of autism (STRATA): study protocol for a pragmatic, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised controlled trial

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are commonly prescribed to manage anxiety in adults with an autism diagnosis. However, their effectiveness and adverse effect profile in the autistic population are not well known. This trial aims to determine the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the SSRI sertraline in reducing symptoms of anxiety and improving quality of life in adults with a diagnosis of autism compared with placebo and to quantify any adverse effects.