Thinking Autism

UK charity advocating for treatments for autism and research into underlying causes. We don't provide medical advice, tweets should not be construed as such.

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

Are you tired of hearing that #autism is a gift/just a 'difference', when for you/your child it is a severe disability? If so, support our charity, the only one in the UK advocating for treatments for underlying medical causes of disabling autism symptoms.
https://t.co/XtqULqNSzV

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

"Regression is a common symptom in ASD, and specifically in boys, confers higher severity of ASD symptoms."
It isn't normal for children to regress/lose skills. Research needed into WHY this often occurs in autism (underlying biology).
https://t.co/UfEr1hdrP0
via @PaulWhiteleyPhD

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

From the Autism Tribune:
"Only one version of #autism has become fashionable: The mild version that doesn’t require institutional restraint, specialist support and full-time care. The version that makes good TV..."
https://t.co/Yu0OlUtSuu

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

Prevalence of #autism in children with #epilepsy: A population-based study
"ASD prevalence was significantly higher in participants with epilepsy across all definitions".
https://t.co/nb3DvJcq8S
via @PaulWhiteleyPhD

[NCSA @NCSAutismOrg]

News report: Family sues adult day program after son with autism falls from window to his death https://t.co/mWlLJr1ABP

[Sylvia Fogel MD @FogelSylvia]

A systems biology framework—one that considers cellular metabolism, including signaling pathways, redox balance, and mitochondrial function, alongside the dynamic interplay among reciprocally regulating body systems such as the immune system—is crucial to advancing autism research. As researcher Robert K. Naviaux and others have emphasized, diverse genetic and environmental factors may converge on disruptions in cellular metabolism, resulting in systems-level dysfunction across the body.

Historically, autism research has focused primarily on the brain. However, the high rates of co-occurring medical conditions, together with multiple converging lines of evidence, increasingly suggest that for at least some cohorts, autism may involve whole-body pathophysiology rather than isolated neurodevelopmental differences alone. Expanding research efforts to include underlying systems biology therefore represents an important complement to existing lines of investigation.

This paper is a tour de force and underscores that perspective. https://t.co/DXT6c4MSQL

Visit the Autism Innovation Coalition for more of these perspectives. https://t.co/qrXsEENHCt

[MAKE A STAND 4 AUTISM @MakeAStandOrg]

Wow! HUGE!!

“Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition increasingly linked to disturbances in immune signaling and neuroimmune cross-talk. This PRISMA-ScR–guided scoping review synthesizes contemporary evidence to propose a structured immunological classification of ASD comprising six immune-related subtypes: immune overactivation, immune deficiency, autoimmunity-linked ASD, gut–immune axis dysregulation, post-infectious or immune-triggered onset patterns, and maternal immune activation.”

[Paul Whiteley @PaulWhiteleyPhD]

Neuroinflammatory Mechanisms and Pharmacological Advances in Autism Spectrum Disorder: From Inflammatory Pathways to Targeted Interventions https://t.co/6kgQK85zbU "propose the Peripheral-to-Central Inflammatory Cascade-Amplification Model (PC-ICAM)"

[Lucinda Miller @NatureDocHealth]

If you’re doing everything you can to give your baby or toddler the best possible start in life, then you’ll want to know about the effect of chemicals from plastics, on both you and your little one.

https://t.co/SCCPs53lDD

[Autism Research Institute @ariConference]

Did you miss today's webinar featuring Dr. Hokehe Eko describing how targeted nutrition, appropriate behavioral support, and environmental adjustments can work together to improve outcomes for children diagnosed with autism? It's not too late - watch the playback and take the knowledge quiz. https://t.co/L4lwnJq0Rm

[Paul Whiteley @PaulWhiteleyPhD]

Magnetic Brain Pulses Help Kids With Autism to Communicate, Study Finds https://t.co/tLZuelDvPr There's several good RCTs (placebo-controlled) showing some green shoots. And a recent MA/SR also adds. More needed on who and why and longer-term outcomes but...

[Paul Whiteley @PaulWhiteleyPhD]

"Among 140 pediatric patients with femoral neck fractures, 39 (28%) were diagnosed with ASD or NDD" https://t.co/2LKcoX5I9x Mentions lots of potential reasons: more medical comorbidities, low vitamin D (thanks RRBs!) and more.

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@MsRobinHosking @AliArthPainter @patjgardner Also, the average man in the street (as well as policy makers who control funding) might look at Elon Musk and think, if you can have autism and be unimaginably rich and successful, then perhaps people with autism don't need to be funded by taxpayers' money...

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

From the Autism Tribune:
"Only one version of #autism has become fashionable: The mild version that doesn’t require institutional restraint, specialist support and full-time care. The version that makes good TV..."
https://t.co/Yu0OlUtSuu

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@MsRobinHosking @AliArthPainter @patjgardner In what way are they fundamentally the same? And how can we be sure that they are different expressions of the same underlying thing if we don't know what that thing is (or those things are)?

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@MsRobinHosking @AliArthPainter @patjgardner The point we were making was that Musk's autism is very different from an individual who needs help to take care of their most basic personal needs. Is it helpful that the same label is used for these completely different presentations?

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@MsRobinHosking @AliArthPainter @patjgardner Do you mean that Elon Musk has round the clock care to manage his personal needs such as toileting and showering, as individuals with profound autism do?

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@AliArthPainter @patjgardner Given that the underlying pathophysiology of autism (or autisms?) hasn't been established yet, how can anyone be sure that what is causing Elon Musk's autism is the same as what is causing a non-verbal individual with intellectual disability who needs round-the-clock care?

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@AliArthPainter @patjgardner It's all called autism now, although there is a move towards a classification of profound autism. It's hard to justify the same label for the richest man in the world (Elon Musk), and individuals who are minimally/non-verbal, have intellectual disability, and require 24/7 care.

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@AliArthPainter @patjgardner Speech delay isn't the only difference between Asperger's and what is now often termed profound autism. Speech isn't just delayed, many individuals are non- or minimally verbal. There is also intellectual disability, lack of mental capacity, and the requirement for 24/7 care.

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@Carys_Kitt @patjgardner It's not really clear/useful terminology though if you have to add a long list of impairments, such as the list in my previous tweet.

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@patjgardner and those who have very limited communication, intellectual disability, little awareness of danger, are unable to keep themselves safe or take care of personal needs, may be aggressive or self-injurious, may be incontinent, and require 24/7 care and supervision. 2/2

[Thinking Autism @TweetingAutism]

@patjgardner Agree that individuals with any form of autism can experience difficulties in their lives. Since Asperger's is no longer an official diagnosis, it's hard to find the right terminology to differentiate between those who would formerly have been given this diagnosis 1/2