Autism Science Foundation Weekly Science Report
Episodes
The Immune Taboo
15 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The immune system is critically involved in autism. Of course, there are still a lot of questions to answer, particularly whether dysregulation of the...
The different flavors of early intervention
01 Dec 2025
Contributed by Lukas
You may have heard terms in early intervention like “NDBI” or “Early Start Denver Model” and wondered if there was a difference in efficacy be...
The importance of cognitive ability in autism traits, and how to measure it in those with IDD
16 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Everyone knows cognitive ability is critical for understanding autism, however, how does it affect developmental trajectories of autism traits, and ca...
Can COVID cause autism?
03 Nov 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, a new study suggests a causal link not between Tylenol, but to COVID, which can cause a fever. There is clearly more research needed, but t...
A lesson on leucovorin
20 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two pediatricians, a child neurologist and a child psychiatrist walk into the ASF weekly science podcast to discuss the safety, efficacy and appropria...
Have you heard the good news?
06 Oct 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The National Institutes of Health just awarded $50million to 13 different research sites to better understand genetic and environmental contributions ...
Happy Birthday Simons Searchlight!
21 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
In an effort to better understand the causes of autism in those with a known genetic variant associated with ASD or other developmental disorders, in...
Let’s Talk Tylenol
08 Sep 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week the @WSJ reported that the upcoming MAHA report will include acetaminophen (also known as Tylenol in the United States, although it is used ...
This one’s for the girls
25 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week, Drs. Casey Burrows from @UMN and Shuting Zheng from @UTexas discuss a new paper looking at sex differences in autism features from 20-40 mo...
Autism and diseases of the aging brain
10 Aug 2025
Contributed by Lukas
As the autistic brain ages, is it more vulnerable to other brain disorders? Recent scientific discoveries in Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s D...
What labels should be used to describe autism?
27 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s podcast includes summaries from two new scientific studies (with comments from one of the studies’ authors @SimonsFoundation and @prin...
The Science of Autism BrainNet
14 Jul 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s ASF weekly science podcast features Dr. David Amaral, who directs the Autism BrainNet. The Autism BrainNet is a program that organizes t...
Helping science tell a story
28 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This week’s podcast includes Storyform Science founders H. Adam Steinberg and Holly Kerby, both scientists who now help other scientists use storyte...
Genetic therapies in store for neurodevelopmental disorders
16 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Gene therapies have been in the news lately. They are being used to help individuals who have a genetic variant linked to a disorder or disease, inclu...
What we learn from linking data
02 Jun 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The NIH has launched the new Autism Data Science Initiative: https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/autism-data-science-initiative/funding-opportunities#section1, whi...
News from the International Society for Autism Research Meeting, 2025
11 May 2025
Contributed by Lukas
This year’s International Society of Autism Research Meeting was filled with great presentations about causes, diagnosis, interventions, mechanisms,...
Why science?
28 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
With the International Society for Autism Research underway and a new wave of misunderstanding about scientific evidence in autism, it’s time to thi...
Microglia as a target for new interventions
13 Apr 2025
Contributed by Lukas
There is a cell in the brain called the microglia which has been traditionally overlooked as a target for therapies. New research supported by ASF and...
Let’s talk about catatonia
31 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Catatonia is a syndrome which includes immobility, stupor, and sometimes regression in psychiatric wellness or even ability to feed or take care of on...
Contextual Factors in Autism: What took us so long?
14 Mar 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Contextual factors, or external factors, are environmental influences and can impact not just a diagnosis but the life course of a person with autism ...
Is folate an evidence-based treatment for autism?
23 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Today’s #ASFpodcast explains the potential and the unknowns behind folate, known as leucovorin when prescribe, for treating autism. CBSNews reported...
An Explanation of Some of the Recent Scientific Research Announcements
09 Feb 2025
Contributed by Lukas
The past couple of weeks have been a flurry of decisions involving government funding for research and health and wellness services. It’s been diffi...
How IQ impacts the “will do” of skills: adaptive behaviors
26 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s podcast, Dr. Elaine Clarke from @RutgersU discusses the role of adaptive behavior. This refers to the wide range of skills that a per...
Do Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Direct Current Stimulation help people with autism? The latest science here.
13 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
Two therapies that are meant to alter brainwave activity, called Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation and Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation are rec...
We missed one for the 2024 year end summary: Proof of the importance of genetic testing in autism
05 Jan 2025
Contributed by Lukas
It happens every year – this one belonged in the 2024 year end highlights but was published late in the year. Researchers at UCSD, UCLA and CHLA fol...
The 2024 Autism Science Year in Review
23 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New Technologies, New Data, New Solutions This year’s progress in autism research includes promising findings, clarifications, explanations, and the...
Online autism assessments as a perk of the pandemic
16 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While it may not seem like it, the COVID-19 pandemic brought some advances in care and understanding for people on the spectrum. One example is the de...
An update on why there are fewer autistic females compared to males
08 Dec 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, special podcast correspondent #MiaKotikovski summarizes new research on the increasing prevalence of autism, with a focus on females. While...
Synaptic Density and Autism, explained
25 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
….or at a podcast with at least an attempt at an explanation of what synaptic density is and how it is affected in brains of people with autism. Thi...
Health Concerns Across 3 Generations
11 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Are you the grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, sibling, or half-sibling of someone with autism and wondered “what is the likelihood of autism in fami...
Stigma experienced around the world
03 Nov 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Despite many years fighting it, families with autism still experience societal stigma. The experiences depend on many factors, summarized in the Octob...
The Importance of Model Systems
28 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Animal models of autism, including cell based models, have received criticism because autism is a uniquely human condition so there is no value in stu...
Where is autism stigma the worst in the world?
20 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, part 1 in cultural stigma around autism with Mia Kotikovski provides an overview of stigma, where it can come from across cultures and prov...
Factors That Influence Heterogeity and How
13 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Understanding factors that make each person with autism different has been a challenge, affecting diagnosis, interventions and the way we think about ...
Post-Pandemic Problems
06 Oct 2024
Contributed by Lukas
A few years after the start of the pandemic, and a couple of years into “recovery”, scientists are still disentangeling the effects of COVID-19 lo...
Catching up with CANDID
29 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part 2 of the GI series in ASD, a new paper in the Journal of Nutrition and Gastroenterology describing the www.candidgi.com meeting is described. ...
Mysteries of the Microbiome
22 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In the first of a two-part series on digestive health in ASD, Mia Kotikovski summarizes scientific information about what the complicated microbiome i...
More about the environmental influences in autism
08 Sep 2024
Contributed by Lukas
New research points to a previously understudied but fascinating mechanism by which environmental factors may lead to autism: it’s called the “GAB...
Dealing with an ER visit
18 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, special correspondent Mia Kotikovski discusses challenges in getting emergency care for those with autism, what doctors and hospitals can d...
Profound Autism: The first meaningful autism subgroup
12 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Instead of grouping together people with autism based on traditional severity scores, what if groupings were done based on functional outcome? Would t...
What happens during sleep?
05 Aug 2024
Contributed by Lukas
During sleep, your brain is still active. It is turning all those things you learned during the day into long term memories through connections betwee...
What do Profound Autism Caregivers Need?
29 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In part 1 of a 3 part series on Profound Autism, ASF interviews Emily Ferguson, PhD from @Stanford shares what she learned by asking parents and careg...
Recurrence rates for families with an ASD child
21 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
What is the probability of having a future child with autism if you already have one or more? Families want to know. It helps preparation, planning, w...
Alison Singer appears on @LifeWithTheSpectrum
15 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In case you missed it, listen to Alison Singer with Gina Kavali on her podcast @LifeWiththeSpectrum. Alison talks about the importance of autism resea...
Culturally sensitive care with Mia Kotikovski
07 Jul 2024
Contributed by Lukas
On this week’s podcast, Mia Kotivkoski, founder of her own 5013c and recent graduate of Stony Brook University, reviews why understanding cultural a...
Breakthrough for those with rare genetic disorders
29 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
This week, more on genetics as an influence to an autism diagnosis with a twist: can genetics lead to a specific treatment for core symptoms – acros...
The Transcription Factor Song
23 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Very rarely are scientists able to look at single genes within the brains of people across neuropsychiatric disorders and understand how the genes in ...
Father of mine
17 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
In recognition of Father’s Day on the 16th, today’s podcast includes the latest research on fathers. Fathers may often be the “secondary caregiv...
We need more psychiatrists with expertise in autism
10 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
General psychiatrists are trained deal with a range of psychiatric issues in a variety of areas, but very few have experience helping families of chil...
Biology of profound and non-profound autism
02 Jun 2024
Contributed by Lukas
Scientists have spent a lot of time trying to understand the biology of autism, unfortunately in the past, scientific studies had everyone with autism...
Are Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions controversial?
20 May 2024
Contributed by Lukas
While NDBIs are generally considered beneficial, they still face controversies – do they actually work and does that translate to an improved qualit...