Some of the symptoms of the autistic condition Asperger Syndrome, such as a need for routine and resistance to change, could be linked to levels of the stress hormone cortisol, suggests new research led by the University of Bath.
At age 47, Hillora Lang can finally access the halls of learning. Awarded a $3,000 Schwallie Family Scholarship through the Organization for Autism Research, she entered Cape Fear Community College this fall with plans to go on to the University of North Carolina Wilmington.
Wilmington Star-News Online, 2008-11-10
The emotional responses elicited by the way options are framed often results in lack of logical consistency in human decision making. In this study, we investigated subjects with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using a financial task in which the monetary prospects were presented as either loss or gain. We report both behavioral evidence that ASD subjects show a reduced susceptibility to the framing effect and psycho-physiological evidence that they fail to incorporate emotional context into the decision-making process. On this basis, we suggest that this insensitivity to contextual frame, although enhancing choice consistency in ASD, may also underpin core deficits in this disorder. These data highlight both benefits and costs arising from multiple decision processes in human cognition.
The Journal of Neuroscience, 2008-10-15
This study evaluated independent effects of maternal and paternal age on risk of autism spectrum disorder.
American Journal of Epidemiology, 2008-10-21
Some boys never grow out of their attraction to moving vehicles. As adults, they just transition from toys to the real thing.
Asperger’s syndrome causes more stress to the “Aspie” than it does to his or her co-workers. The differences between Aspergians and neurotypicals, or people with brain functions typical of the majority of the population, can sometimes make for unnecessary conflict in the workplace. But with a little education and understanding, both sides can be happy and productive.
A NEW centre to test adults for autism is being opened in Southampton.
Southern Daily Echo, 2008-07-26
Official criteria for diagnosing autism spectrum disorders apply specifically to children, not grownups.
There is a legacy left in the wake of childhood and adolescence lived unknowingly superimposed upon what is the foundational hard-wiring of difference and social disconnectedness that are central to the reality and scope of Asperger’s Syndrome and that form different ways of thinking and perceiving that are outside the ebb and flow of the landscape of the stratum of social terra firma.
Asperger’s Syndrome – A Different Ability, 2008-07-10
Many cases of autism are caused by genetic defects that disrupt the brain’s ability to learn, according to groundbreaking research that promises to lead to new therapies. A set of six genes that are strongly linked to brain development in the first year of life have been found to be abnormal in many autistic children, suggesting a neurological pathway that may underlie a significant proportion of cases.