Autism Science Foundation Weekly Science Report

Another study on acetaminophen (known as paramecetol in Denmark) on probability of having a child with autism, this one with over 1.5 million pregnant women, 31k who were exposed to acetaminophen. The HHS Secretary is calling it “garbage in and garbage out” because it showed no link, but in fact, it is a strong study that examined multiple confounding variables and addressed questions that had been unanswered previous...

The word “mitochondrial deficits” gets thrown around a lot as a cause of autism, but what does this really mean? This week we interview Dr. Carisa Sirois from the University of Wisconsin, who recently published a review of how the mitochondria are involved in neurodevelopmental disorders. The ways mitochondria are involved in ASD are not simple, there are many different ways in which they affect cellular function, in...

What is the Independent Autism Coordinating Committee and why did it meet? This week’s podcast discusses the need and the agenda of Thursday’s meeting. In addition, more research showing that epidemiologists should consider different features of autism together with prevalence numbers because they may differ across the spectrum. Finally, different types of language development are seen in those with autism, so inter...

This week’s podcast summarizes some highlights in scientific research and includes a recognition of Rare Disease Week and actions taken by the FDA to ease the criteria for evaluating genetic therapies for rare genetic disorders, the best study to date on the mortality in autism, genetic prediction of outcome in individuals with a diagnosis, and Uta Frith’s commentary on the concept of “spectrum”.

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This week we talk to Dr. Emily Hotez from UCLA, (and a sibling to an autistic adult) who has focused her research on reducing stigma and marginalization, which will ultimately improve research participation to increase scientifically valid options for families. She also works on a nationwide project to improve health outcomes in autistic individuals, from birth through adulthood. Her new project focuses on chronic stress on phys...

A landmark study that uses brain organoids from different people with different genes associated with autism showed that the different genes act as roads that go on different journeys to the same destination. This will be an enormously important discovery for identifying targets to treat different autism symptoms across different genetic causes of autism and understand the diversity of symptoms. Also, the new Interagency Autism ...

Air pollution, specifically one part of air pollution called PM 2.5 (named for the size of the crud in the air pollution) has been linked to autism. It’s also been tied to cancer, heart disease, asthma, obesity, and premature births. Air pollution typically comes from industrial sources and car exhaust, but it can also be the result of smoke from wildfires. Four new studies this week link air pollution exposure during pregna...

On this week’s podcast, we present new research summarizing how autism is part of a larger spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders and issues. There are issues that people with autism experience that are not unique to autism; they are seen in people with ADHD, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression. This is what is meant by “transdiagnostic”. These things include core autism features, co-morbid health p...

This year was a VERY eventful year for autism. If you want to hear a highlight of the good news, the great science that was discovered and the ideas developed to help families with autism, listen to this podcast or read the summary here: https://autismsciencefoundation.org/2025-year-in-review/. In summary: more precise subtypes of autism have been discovered and validated using biological markers, explanation for sex differenc...

The immune system is critically involved in autism. Of course, there are still a lot of questions to answer, particularly whether dysregulation of the immune system is the cause or a consequence of autism among others. But it is not studied enough. This week’s podcast includes new studies that examine the role of the immune system in autism, and outlines the different theories of how the immune system is involved in ASD.

You may have heard terms in early intervention like “NDBI” or “Early Start Denver Model” and wondered if there was a difference in efficacy behind all these flavors of toddler interventions. On this week’s podcast, we speak to Dr. Giacomo Vivanti from @DrexelAutism, who combined data from 4 of these interventions across 700 children to see if they found similar or different effects of each protocol. ...

Everyone knows cognitive ability is critical for understanding autism, however, how does it affect developmental trajectories of autism traits, and can it be accurately measured in those with severe intellectual disabilities? We discuss. Plus, more evidence that tylenol doees not cause autism.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41207796

https://www.aaidd.org/docs/default-source/prepressarticles/which-score-for-what-operatio...

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 the findings are consistent with research on the link between maternal illness and autism. Also, it’s well known that genetics plays a role in how symptoms of autism emerge and present. Can genetics also explain why some people are diagnosed later? What about cannabis expos...

Two pediatricians, a child neurologist and a child psychiatrist walk into the ASF weekly science podcast to discuss the safety, efficacy and appropriateness of leucovorin, the drug that the HHS is fast tracking through the FDA approval process. Does it work? Is it safe? What should I do or know when I talk to my doctor?

Here is a link to the statement by the Society of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics: https://sdb...

The National Institutes of Health just awarded $50million to 13 different research sites to better understand genetic and environmental contributions to an autism diagnosis, or increase in prevalence in autism, as well as environmental factors which improve the quality of life for children and adults with ASD.

You can read about them here or listen to this 30 minute podcast which summarizes them.

https://dpcpsi.nih.gov/a...

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 2010, the Simons Foundation launched Simons VIP, now known as  Simons Searchlight – an online international research program studying nearly 200 rare genetic neurodevelopmental disorders and working with over 60 patient advocacy groups across these conditions. 

Since its inc...

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 all over the world) use during pregnancy as a cause of autism. Acetaminophen is used in about 7.5 % of pregnant women. This is one of many environmental exposures that had previously been investigated in association with an autism diagnosis, but then disproven following rigorous a...

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 months of age. A new analysis done with data from the Baby Siblings Research Consortium concludes that, early in life, girls with autism show differences in some autism features (like joint attention) compared to boys. There are many reasons for this, including that boys and girls ar...

As the autistic brain ages, is it more vulnerable to other brain disorders? Recent scientific discoveries in Parkinson’s Disease and Alzheimer’s Disease show that there may be an underlying mechanism between these diseases and autism. However diagnosing someone with autism with an additional brain disorder, especially dementia, can be difficult. This week’s podcast covers the increased risk of Parkinson’...