Discovering literacy About one-third of autistic people are minimally verbal, and most are never provided an effective alternative. However, a new study from scientists at the University of Virginia suggests that many of these individuals are literate, raising the possibility that they could learn to express themselves through writing. More

High Tech friend An AI robot has been developed in Pakistan to assist children on the autism spectrum. This AI robot is designed in such a way that it understands the needs of autistic children and provides social support to them in every possible way. The AI robot is capable of assisting autistic children in communication and enhancing cognitive abilities. More

Mechanisms of stress Autistic people may be particularly susceptible to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Recent research suggests that even mild stressors can trigger PTSD in those with autism. More

Deep dive guide "Working in education, I realised that I had the same struggles as some of my students. I became passionate about sharing my experiences and educating people about autism.” More

Fraudsters and fakes The Met Police has launched an investigation over concerns about stem-cell injections being offered to children as a cure for autism. The Royal Borough of Greenwich told BBC London it was aware of concerns surrounding "experimental procedures" on autistic children. The Met said it was investigating "a reported fraud relating to the provision of medical services”. More

Access all animals A Black Country zoo has been certified "autism friendly" by a charity for people with learning disabilities. Dudley Zoo was recognised by Dimensions for its welcoming atmosphere and work to make the site more inclusive for visitors with sensory needs. More

Support star Marie Ward, Sligo Traveller Support Group is the lead Primary Health care worker raising awareness in her community on Autism and supporting parents and families with children diagnosed with Autism. More

What, no assessments? Leeds North West MP Alex Sobel has uncovered what he calls “the startling truth” over the scandal of families struggling to get autism assessments for their children. More

Job creation The North East Autism Society (NEAS) is partnering with creative organisations in the region to launch an innovative new employability and wellbeing scheme for neurodivergent people. More

Game on Northern Ireland's first-ever gaming convention for individuals with autism returns for its second year. Fandom Con, one of Northern Ireland's first-ever gaming conventions specifically designed for and organised by individuals with autism and neurodiverse conditions, is set to return on 25th May. More

Attendance and autism Children who are persistently absent from school are often autistic, a survey by a Hackney parents' group suggests. A report by Hackney Independent Parents (Hip) has been investigating the growing problem of "emotionally based school avoidance (ESBA)", a local authority meeting heard. More

Big challenge  Celebrity Big Brother’s Bradley Riches reflects on challenges of autism. While discussing his 2023 children’s book, “A” Different Kind Of Superpower, with fellow housemate and West End star Marisha Wallace, Riches explained that some aspects of being in the Celebrity Big Brother house can be challenging. More

Autism assessments A quarter of families wait at least four years for an assessment, a Channel4 survey shows. More

Reasonable adjustments The recently published Buckland report recommended a range of ways in which employers can better support autistic employees. This starts with the recruitment process, argues Euan Cameron. More
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Press praise A journalist has thanked colleagues for their support after recently being diagnosed with autism. Aaron Greenaway has praised fellow staff at Tindle Newspapers in Cornwall after his diagnosis. More

Silence and stigma Having autistic kids can leave South Asian mums isolated. Habiba says women like her feel isolated and alone because autism is not discussed in the south Asian community. More

Autistic Joy Angela Lauria is the creator of The Autistic Culture Podcast which advocates for viewing autism as a cultural difference to be embraced and not a disorder to be fixed. More

Sounds sensitive The Auerbach Lab at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology is soon to examine how different genes associated with autism may impact the brain’s neurons, resulting in heightened sensitivity to sounds. More

Forced to fail Some pupils with autism in Scotland are forced to “fail” in mainstream education before receiving the necessary support, MSPs have heard. Suzi Martin, the external affairs manager for the National Autistic Society Scotland said the pace of progress on support for children needing more support has been too slow. More

Eating disorder support A service supporting young individuals with autism who suffer from eating disorders suggests identifying early signs of autism could help understand eating habits which could lead to a disorder. The Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire Pathway for Eating disorders and Autism developed from Clinical Experience (BOB PEACE), has been treating adolescents and young people for years, providing targeted mental health support. More

Rock on The music industry has rallied around a rock band predominately made up of musicians with a learning disability after the group were stripped of vital charity funding. The six members of Ultimate Thunder from Leeds have been playing together for over a decade and relied on financial support to pay for equipment and support staff. More​

Immersed in the task Going with the flow Is there overlap between Autistic hyperfocus and flow? Take a look at this investigation of autistic people's flow-like or hyperfocus experiences. More

Dog decision Mike and Erin Doan wanted to adopt a dog from Kismutt Small Dog Rescue but were told by the owner that they would not adopt out a dog to a family with an autistic child. More

Accessible worship Parents sometimes find it difficult to attend the mosque themselves at prayer times, due to the fear that their child might not cope well in the mosque environment and disturb the prayers. Here are 7 simple, cost-effective ways that mosques can cater to the needs of the autistic community.  More

Mothers speak out Children out of education, careers cut short and crumbling mental health. These are some of the ways parents of children with special educational needs (SEND) say they are being impacted by a system struggling with demand. More

On pitch empathy A football player wore ear defenders to show support for a team mascot with autism. Slough Town FC's Josh Jackman, wore the ear guards while walking out for a match against Farnborough. Roseanne is a young fan with autism, who wears ear defenders during games to limit noise and help to keep her calm. More

Advocating for advocacy Gail Petty writes about the findings from a major new research report which reviews advocacy for people with learning disabilities and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health settings. More

In control Animation on how to improve quality of life at home by finding ways to enable your child to make free, healthy autonomous choices. This can also help ease some parenting stress levels. More

STOMP it out Medics need to “fully engage” with NHS England’s campaign to stop the overmedication of people with a learning disability, autism or both. That’s the view of campaigner Paula McGowan. She says medics should always seek a “non-pharmaceutical approach and work closely with their neurodivergent patients”. More

Age and autism The US DHHS has been presented with some of the issues surrounding autism and ageing. More

Autism on stage Autism champion Richie Smith hopes to inspire others by taking his audience on a journey through his mental health problems. More

Eye contact insight Why is eye contact different in autism? Yale researchers have identified a specific region of the brain associated with the social side of autism using innovative new technology. More

Mind the spectrum What is public transport like for autistic people? More

Mental health spotlight Mental health services are invited to use The Green Light Toolkit 2022 to kick start improvements in services for autistic people. More

Right to work Just 2 in 10 autistic people have a job, the lowest employment rate of all disabled groups. But diverse ways of thinking can bring huge benefits to companies. More

Positive parenting “Once you realize that the world is a big giant neurodiverse umbrella covering us all, you can begin to see that there is no single “best” path to take on your parenting journey”. More

Women, autism and eating disorder It’s 2011 and Nicola Shaughnessy is on her way to an academic conference when she stops to buy herself some lunch. As she reaches for a sandwich she suddenly hears a familiar voice from her childhood. More

Try this There have been plenty of newcomers welcomed to the sport of rugby at the Palace Grounds in Armagh over the past five weeks. This comes after local autism support group, More Than Words, teamed up with Rugby Cubz NI, who provide modified rugby activities for children with autism and additional needs. More

Gut news A collaborative Australian study has challenged the increasingly popular theory that gut health drives autism and rejected the use of fad diets and so-called therapies such as faecal transplants. More

Seeking acceptance People on the autism spectrum often face discrimination and other challenges in everyday life. In Bulgaria, activists are working to raise awareness and reduce stigma. More
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Pandemic problems For adults and children on the autism spectrum, getting a COVID-19 vaccine is easier said than done. More

Autistic images When photographer Mary Berridge’s son was diagnosed with Asperger’s, she began to see his world in a new light. She set out to capture a series of everyday – and exceptional – stories, one image at a time. More

That’s our business  In this podcast Toni Boucher (author and autistic self-advocate) describes her “AUntrepreneur” programme which helps young adults launch their own businesses. More

Sensory search Since sensory differences became part of the diagnostic criteria for autism in 2013, an increasing number of autism researchers have been drawn to the thalamus. What is it and what does it have to do with autism? More

Meeting Melanie “There’s a sense of relief about it and a sense of mourning. Not because I don’t want to be who I am, it’s that I wish I’d known sooner so I could have understood exactly why things were rolling the way they were rolling". More

Access to work An autistic woman said her experience of work was traumatising and more consideration was needed for neurodiverse employees. More

Big heart Murray MacDonald, who runs a group called Autism on the Water, decided to start cooking soup and delivering them to people during the lockdown because he was lonely. More

Just wrong ‘Do not resuscitate’ notices have been given to Covid patients with learning disabilities during the pandemic, says Mencap charity, "Vulnerable people have encountered shocking discrimination". More

Accept it "Though there are a lot of people who are aware that autism exists, there are fewer who understand what autism is, so we still need to be out teaching the public and our first responders the basics of what it is to be on the spectrum, and how to best relate to us" More

Profound impact Read the Autism Europe report: Impact of COVID-19 on autistic people and their families across Europe More

Radical review The government has launched an independent review into the children's care sector in England. It will be lead by a former teacher, Josh MacAlister, who founded the social work charity Frontline in 2013.  More

My diagnosis Assessment and diagnosis of autism: what can you expect? A quick guide for young people and their families​ More

All about timing Autistic children have a harder time catching a ball than non-autistic children do, possibly because they are less able to predict its trajectory, according to a new unpublished study. Researchers presented the findings virtually this week More

Excluded again Becky Hunter and her 14-year-old son, Mackenzie, live in Skellow, a former pit village near Doncaster. Mackenzie has a diagnosis of autism, and is in year 10 at the Outwood academy in Adwick, where, in the academic year 2017-18, 27.9% of pupils were subject to fixed-term exclusions, the eighth highest rate of any school in England. More

Gender question The podcast 1800 seconds on autism asks if autistic people are more gender fluid. More

Amazing Kids Listen to children from different backgrounds share their unique experiences of the autistic spectrum in their own words. More

A girls journey "Whether positive or negative — or, more likely, a mix of both — there is no denying that having a diagnosis makes the difference between accessing healthcare and support, or receiving nothing at all. But the journey to diagnosis is often lengthy, confusing and frustrating" More

Get some in Autism self-advocate and personal trainer Mark Fleming discusses the importance of exercise for the neurodivergent. More




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Life of quality Researchers are finally turning their attention to autistic adults and trying to figure out factors that affect their quality of life. More

Keep getting up Naoki Higashida is the non-verbal author of bestseller The Reason I Jump. In Fall Down 7 Times Get Up 8 he explains his behaviours and challenges others’ perceptions. More

Disabled or not Saffron is nine. When she received her diagnosis, her mother Sam did not think what the doctors described sounded like a disability. While Saffron does encounter the difficulties associated with autism, her family encourage her to regard herself simply as not neurotypical, rather than having a disability. More

Thinking different What does the research show regarding cognitive styles of people with high-functioning autism/Asperger syndrome? More

Predicting autism A machine-learning algorithm has analysed brain scans of 6-month-old children and predicted with near-certainty whether they will show signs of autism when they reach the age of 2 More

Take pride A network of school-based groups has been set up by a handful of young adults with autism who wanted to give other kids what they had mostly missed out on over their school years: social connections, self-confidence, acceptance and pride in their autistic condition More

Try Rugby Leo Gradwell Spencer, 11, was bullied at school and struggled with self-confidence until he attended a rugby training camp More

Skills for support And support for skills. Children and adults with autism need a knowledgeable, confident, skilled workforce of helpers if they are to get the better lives they so deserve. That's why we are running our Training for Autism Trainers Programme again this year. More

Can brain scans reveal autism? Recent reports suggest that MRI scans might be able to identify children who are more likely to have autism. It's time for a reality check. More
And while we are talking identification... early and accurate assessment and diagnosis are still not available universally. That's why we are offering ADOS2 trainning this June. More

A question of girls Conventional thinking suggests autism mainly affects boys. But more and more girls – and adult women – are being diagnosed with the condition. And up to 100,000 could be still undiagnosed. More

Matching jobs to autism Tom Cowley had a dream to create computer games, but after six years, had not been able to break into the business. He is autistic, which means he has difficulty communicating with, and forming relationships, with other people. He suspects that may have held him back from selling himself to employers. More
And on the same subjetc...Watch this interview with the author and autism advocate Stephen Shore. More

Teaching kids with autism. What's that like? We need help with a survey of peoples experiences teaching or supporting children on the spectrum. Take five  to help out. More

Fakery stopped A drug and dietary supplement maker has been ordered to cease operations after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration found that it was falsely marketing products as being able to treat autism and other conditions. More

Coming soon Watch out for a new autism online magazine that aims to talk sense about science and autism. You can subscribe now. More

Support Big Steps Big transitions like leaving school need really big support. A study of stress and coping when transitioning to adulthood with autism examines the issues. More

Undercover Moms A “hidden pool” of women who have grown up with undiagnosed autism is coming to light as mothers researching their children’s spectrum disorders recognise themselves in their findings. More

Together and apart The BBC Listening Project featured a conversation between a divorced couple who can now see that their different modes of communication placed a stress on the relationship. More

Looking for? What are professionals looking for when they conduct an autism assessment? More

On the subject of assessment, take a look at our ADOS2 course in Birmingham this Summer. More

Brain find Scientist in Ireland think they may be able to shed a bit more light on which areas of the brain are different in autism. More

Stress on test "We know that it is common for individuals with autism to have a more intense reaction to stress, and some of these patients seem to experience frequent constipation, abdominal pain or other gastrointestinal issues," David Beversdorf, M.D., associate professor, MU Thompson Center for Autism. More

Procesing autism there's a lot to take in and on when your son or daughter is diagnosed with autism. Read this moving blog from Jessica. More