The SPARK Study was featured on Kiro News 7! Check out the great report on how SPARK is impacting Autism research on a massive, national level.
https://www.kiro7.com/video?videoId=911617330&videoVersion=1.0
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MoPoP Autism Morning program
Upcoming: MoPoP Autism Morning program
On Sunday, January 27th from 8-10am the Museum of Pop Culture (MoPoP) will be hosting their Autism Mornings program. This event allows members of the ASD spectrum and their families free early access to the museum with special sensory accommodations made to ensure an enjoyable museum experience for participants. In order to provide lower sensory experiences for kids with ASD and their families, there will be lower sounds and lighting in exhibits like the Lounge, Demo Lab and Learning Labs.
Other galleries that will be open include the Sound Lab, Science Fiction + Fantasy
Hall of Fame, Nirvana: Taking Punk to the Masses, Indie Game Revolution and Sky Church.
Doors will open at 8am with activities beginning at 8:30am. Admission to the museum is free with RSVP at https://store.mopop.org/auxiliary/Reserve.aspx?p=17853
Reservations are required and there is limited availability so be sure to RSVP soon!
If you aren’t able to attend this event, note that the MoPoP hosts ASD Mornings two to three times a year. Check their upcoming events page for updates on when they will be putting on ASD Mornings next at https://www.mopop.org/events
*please note that this blog post does not imply any endorsement of or affiliation with the MoPoP!*
SPARK for Autism videos
Why does Autism happen? The SPARK study helps us get there. Watch these videos about what the SPARK study does and how it can help us learn about some of causes of autism through gene discovery on a national scale.
Creating a Friendlier Space
People with Autism struggle with conventional environments that we work in every day. Across the U.S., people are pushing for spaces in which individuals with this disorder can feel welcome and happy, especially in a school environment. For example, at the Bancroft School in New Jersey, students are taught in larger classrooms and are given specialized vocational training to prepare them for the world outside. In New York, the Learning spring School provides students with breakout rooms for stress relief and open spaces where things like light intensity can be controlled. Everything from increasing natural light, sign shapes and patterns, rounded corners, floor material, to sensory support should be considered when developing an area for those with ASD to thrive!
Click this link to visit the complete article on Spectrum News, written by Rebecca Horne, and watch the video about space design and ASD below.
https://youtu.be/URhliCmsuiw
New statistics on Autism Prevalence
Figure from Spectrum News.
A new estimate found that the prevalence of autism has risen from about 1 in 59 children (cited by the CDC in April 2018) to 1 in every 40 children. Two separate studies, both published earlier this week, found this to be the case (Kogan et al., 2018; Xu et al., 2018). One speculation that researchers made for this jump in prevalence is that these recent surveys were completed by parents, which may produce higher estimates than other methods, and that proof of diagnosis was not required. Both studies also acknowledge that autism prevalence varies significantly by state, as seen in the above figure from Spectrum News.
Please follow these links to the referenced articles, as well as a Spectrum News article that covers this development in greater depth, if you’d like to learn more.
Sources:
Kogan, M., Vladutiu, C., Schieve, L., Ghandour, R., Blumberg, S., Zaboltsky, B., … Lu, M. (2018). The prevalence of parent-reported Autism Spectrum Disorder among U.S. children. Pediatrics, 142(6). doi: 10.1542/peds.2017-4161
Xu, G., Strathearn, L., Liu, B., O’Brien, M., Kopelman, T., Zhu, J., … Bao, W. (2018). Prevalence and treatment of patterns of autism spectrum disorder in the United States, 2016. JAMA Pediatrics. Published online December 03, 2018. doi: 10/1001/jamapediatrics.2018.4208
link to Kogan et al. study: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=30478241
link to Xu et al. study: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2716402
link to Spectrum article: https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/national-surveys-estimate-u-s-autism-prevalence-1-40/
link to Disability Scoop article: https://www.disabilityscoop.com/2018/12/04/second-study-1-in-40-autism-rate/25782/
You go girl!
Check out this awesome Seattle Children’s Autism Blogcast about Females and ASD. Why are females diagnosed at a 1:4 ratio to males? Is it mis-diagnosis or missed-diagnosis? Is it biological differences? Dr. Sara Webb and Dr. Karen Barnes guest host this month’s addition of the Autism Blogcast.