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A prospective ultrasound study of prenatal growth in infant siblings of children with autismNumerous studies have observed that a proportion of infants later diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) experience accelerated head growth...
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Sleep problems and anxiety from 2 to 8 years and the influence of autistic traits: a longitudinal studyAnxiety and sleep problems may be an early indicator of autism in young children and early autistic traits may also contribute to anxiety problems later in childhood
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Atypical nested 22q11.2 duplications are associated with neurodevelopmental phenotypes including autism spectrum disorder with incomplete penetranceOur findings contribute to the genotype–phenotype data for atypical nested 22q11.2 duplications, with implications for genetic counseling
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Parental perspectives of the everyday experiences of uncertainty among young children on the autism spectrumAnxiety commonly co-occurs in autism. Exploring and understanding potential underpinning mechanisms contributing to and maintaining anxiety in the early years is important in managing anxiety. Intolerance of uncertainty (IU), a tendency to find uncertainty difficult, is a transdiagnostic mechanism contributing to anxiety, but little is known about how IU may be experienced in young children on the autism spectrum. This study investigated parental perspectives of children's experiences of uncertainty.
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Eye Gaze in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review of Neural Evidence for the Eye Avoidance HypothesisReduced eye contact early in life may play a role in the developmental pathways that culminate in a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. However, there are contradictory theories regarding the neural mechanisms involved. According to the amygdala theory of autism, reduced eye contact results from a hypoactive amygdala that fails to flag eyes as salient. However, the eye avoidance hypothesis proposes the opposite-that amygdala hyperactivity causes eye avoidance. This review evaluated studies that measured the relationship between eye gaze and activity in the 'social brain' when viewing facial stimuli.
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Developmental vitamin D deficiency increases foetal exposure to testosteroneAutism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a group of neurodevelopmental disorders which are more common in males. The 'prenatal sex steroid' hypothesis links excessive sex-steroid exposure during foetal life with the behavioural differences observed in ASD. However, the reason why sex steroid exposure may be excessive remains unclear. Epidemiological studies have identified several environmental risk factors associated with ASD, including developmental vitamin D (DVD) deficiency.
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Prevalence of Motor Difficulties in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Analysis of a Population-Based CohortIn this population-based cohort that included 2,084 children with autism aged ≤6 years, over one-third met the criteria for motor difficulties
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Psychosocial and neurocognitive correlates of suicidal thoughts and behaviours amongst siblings of persons with and without neurodevelopmental conditionsSiblings of individuals with neurodevelopmental conditions (NDCs) have greater incidence of neuropsychiatric diagnoses and neurocognitive difficulties compared to siblings of persons without NDCs. Despite suicidality being labelled a global health crisis (WHO, 2014) and NDC siblings experiencing risk factors implicated in suicidality, no previous studies examined suicidality amongst adolescent and young adult siblings of persons with NDCs. Our study aimed to bridge this gap.
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Support Preferences and Clinical Decision Support Systems (CDSS) in the Clinical Care of Autistic Children: Stakeholder PerspectivesClinical decision support systems (CDSS) are increasingly utilised within healthcare settings to enhance decision making. However, few studies have investigated their application in the context of clinical services for autistic people, with no research to date exploring the perspectives of the key stakeholders who are, or in the future may be, impacted by their use.
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An investigation of a novel broad autism phenotype: increased facial masculinity among parents of children on the autism spectrumThe broad autism phenotype commonly refers to sub-clinical levels of autistic-like behaviour and cognition presented in biological relatives of autistic people. In a recent study, we reported findings suggesting that the broad autism phenotype may also be expressed in facial morphology, specifically increased facial masculinity.