#autism

#autism

When I finally got the diagnosis, it felt like being in labour as a mom, being in labour for most of my life and finally delivering that baby, that relief,

He told me about a man, who I'll call B, who had completed nearly all the requirements for a radiology specialization at the University of Montreal. This man was the best student in his class. He had spent fifteen years training. He could read twice as many radiological scans as a non-autistic colleague. He was also a professional-level guitarist. Mottron called him "the Glenn Gould of radiology," Glenn Gould being a brilliant, classical pianist.

In the academic job market, campus visits are framed as opportunities to showcase scholarship, teaching and collegiality. In practice, however, they often function as multiday social auditions where candidates are expected to move seamlessly from formal presentations to dinners, hallway conversations and spontaneous small talk, all while conveying confidence and intellectual brilliance. For most, these rituals are exhausting but manageable. For autistic scholars, they can be insurmountable barriers.

I'm autistic and 127 Hours has been my special interest for nearly 15 years,

At first, and for many, this new doll seemed to be an amazing idea. After all, she potentially can open discussions with neurotypical children about their neurodivergent peers that may act a bit differently than they do. That's positive, right? So, if that's the case, why did this doll evoke such a deep feeling inside of me, not one of elation, but rather one of disappointment and frustration?

"As an autistic person, it was particularly difficult to understand what the officers wanted me to do," Rahman said. "I personally experience audio sorting challenges as an autistic person. This makes it so that voices near and far are prioritized in the same way, making it difficult for me to figure out who is talking to me. Because of this, I tend to rely on reading lips. You can imagine how difficult it was for me to try to read lips when ICE officers are completely masked."

I have an 8-year-old son who is autistic and non-speaking. He is in a special education class in our city's public school system. Our system is notoriously underfunded, but I've always felt that the teachers and therapists really care about the kids. I think he is getting what he needs out of school, and he is always happy to go (and happy to come home). But I'm not getting what I need.

This systematic review and meta-analysis found no evidence that maternal paracetamol use during pregnancy increases the risk of autism spectrum disorder, ADHD or intellectual disability among children, says the study, which is published in the Lancet Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Women's Health. It has been undertaken by a team of seven researchers from across Europe, led by Asma Khalil, a professor of obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine at City St George's, University of London, who is also a consultant obstetrician at St George's hospital in London.

The doll, which was created with input from the autistic community, comes with several accessories that "represent common ways autistic people may experience, process, and communicate about the world around them," Mattel's press release states. These accessories include a pink finger-clip fidget spinner to reduce stress and improve focus, noise-cancelling headphones to reduce sensory overload, and an electronic tablet with Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) apps to help non-verbal autistic people interact with others.

I remember the moment this photo was taken: five years ago, on my partner Claire's birthday, in a National Trust for Scotland garden six miles east of Edinburgh. We were standing on a wooden deck, an ideal spot for pond-dipping with the kids and a lesser-known viewing platform for trainspotters. This is where my autistic son, then six, loved (and still loves) to jump in tandem with the ScotRail trains toggling back and forth in the middle distance.

Diagnosed with autism at 14 months, Aubreigh Osborne started this year struggling to control outbursts and sometimes hurting herself. Her trouble with social interactions made her family reluctant to go out in public. But this summer, they started applied behavior analysis therapy, commonly called ABA, which often is used to help people diagnosed with autism improve social interactions and communication.

Maybe you've even enrolled in one of these programs-only to watch your emerging adult withdraw further or completely shut down. I've worked with families who invested significant time and money in conventional programs with devastating results. In one recent case, after 18 months with no progress, the program recommended dropping their autistic son at a homeless shelter to motivate him. This would have been a disaster because it completely missed what was actually happening.

A single mother to two autistic children, who had to leave her home in Bray at the end of November, has been placed in emergency accommodation over 100 kilometres away in County Wexford, despite both of her children attending primary school in the town.

The increase in reported mental health problems and neurodevelopmental diagnoses, and services not keeping pace, reflect what many clinicians see every day people are in more distress and unable to access support. The suffering is not fake, nor is it a case of gen Z malingering. Patients are struggling with what were once ordinary demands of life: school, work, relationships and family, complicated by the aftermath of Covid, with blurred boundaries between home and work, and life lived increasingly on screens.

Now her organisation works with more than 90 artists each week, providing studio space, materials and tuition. Some of their works have been exhibited, commissioned and sold, with artist Shruti designing the advent calendar for beauty brand Lush, and Seatton painting the cover art for Irish music artist CMAT's second studio album, Crazymad, for Me. Meanwhile, Richard's painting called SHIP was featured in last month's edition of the House and Garden magazine.

As the weeks near towards Christmas Day, one young Wexford child is preparing to give the greatest gift of all; inspiration that anything can be overcome with hard work and passion. Nine-year-old Poppie Davies Messett from Gorey, was born with a brain injury to parents Hollie Davies and Gary Messett. Having spent days in the ICU and been just recently diagnosed with autism and dyspraxia, Hollie never imagined that she would be bringing her daughter to rehearsals after being offered a spot on the Late Late Toy Show.