Pandas
Open Society
Towards system redesign: An exploratory analysis of neurodivergent traits in a childhood population referred for autism assessment
Background Children’s health services in many countries are moving from single condition diagnostic silo assessments to considering neurodevelopment in a more holistic sense. There has been increasing recognition of the importance of clinical overlap and co-occurrence of different neurotypes when assessing neurodivergent children. Using a cross-sectional service evaluation design, we investigated the overlap of neurodivergences in a cohort of children referred for autism assessment, focusing on motor, learning, and attention/activity level domains. We aimed to determine what proportion of children in a cohort referred for an autism assessment showed traits of additional neurodivergences, and what proportion were further investigated. Methods We evaluated anonymised medical records of children aged between two and 17 years referred for autism assessment. We used validated questionnaires to assess for neurodivergent traits. A weighted scoring system was developed to determine traits in each neurodevelopmental domain and a score above the median was considered to indicate a neurodivergent trait. Evidence of further investigations were recorded. We then examined the relationships between autism traits and traits of additional neurodivergence. Results 114 participants were included for evaluation. 62.3% (n = 71) had completed questionnaires for analysis. Of these, 71.8% (n = 51) scored greater than the median for at least one additional neurotype, indicating the presence of other neurodivergent traits, and 88.7% (n = 64) attracted a diagnosis of autism. Only 26.3% of children with evidence of additional neurotypes were further investigated beyond their autism assessment. Conclusions Our results demonstrate the extensive overlap between additional neurodivergent traits in a population of children referred with suspected autism and show that only a small proportion were further investigated. The use of standardised questionnaires to uncover additional neurodivergences may have utility in improving the holistic nature of neurodevelopmental assessments.
A neuroaffirming approach in Scotland | BPS
Penguin Pebbling - An Autistic Love Language
Penguins pass pebbles to other penguins to show they care. Penguin Pebbling is a little exchange between two people to show that they care
“No attendance score is worth your suffering” — Neurodiverse Connection
Cassie Lovelock makes the case for why the UK government’s ‘drive to improve school attendance’ will have detrimental impacts on neurodivergent children, young people, and their families.
We can’t stim, are subject to rules around when we can go to the bathroom and forced into chafing uniforms that are, frankly, a sensory hell.
Why 140,000 pupils are ‘severely absent’ from school in England – and what we can do about it
Redundancies, lack of funding, and a pandemic have all contributed to a huge rise in children missing from class. Now a bold new initiative aims to solve the problem
Picky Eating Or Actual Food Aversion? Why Parents Should Know The Difference
Matthew Broberg-Moffitt, an autistic chef and author, explains food aversion and how vital it is for parents to separate it from garden-variety picky eating.
If you've declared your child a "picky eater," you've probably heard a particular refrain from well-meaning family and friends: "When they get hungry enough, they'll eat." The danger with this? Actual food aversion is a neurobiological response that cannot be persuaded, giving that piece of advice the potential to do a lot of harm.
Food aversion can tip into ARFID if food intake doesn't keep the body nourished enough for growth.
"[Food aversion is] safety-based ... Your brain is telling you, 'Don't eat this. You may get sick, and you may die,'" Broberg-Moffitt shares. But instead of getting curious, they explained, parents often default to slapping a "picky eater" label on their kids and calling them difficult.
In all actuality, our kids might be in distress with no way of communicating it.
Food aversion is very similar to a subcategory of ARFID called sensory avoidance, which is when a person has issues with food tastes, textures, temperature, and smells. What avoids the slip into ARFID is the quantity of food a child consumes. As long as a child has enough "safe foods" to find the nourishment their body needs, they remain food averse and not ARFID.
Many children, especially autistic children, struggle with this. In fact, food aversion is common with autism, Broberg-Moffitt says, and can also be an indicator for the undiagnosed.
Food aversion is neurobiological.
"If you're biting into something and it's not what you're expecting, your brain is going to start sending you signals," Broberg-Moffitt tells me. And for neurodivergent children, especially those with sensory processing disorder, those signals are so much stronger. "They can't tune them out." A child might be feeling like, I should not eat this. I cannot eat this. This is bad. Yet, Broberg-Moffitt explains, their loved one is telling them, 'No, go ahead eat it.'"
According to Broberg-Moffitt, forcing a child to eat when they're reacting strongly to food could create a schism. While someone they love is telling them to eat something, their body and brain are telling them it's a hazard. Ultimately, says Broberg-Moffitt, "They cannot physically do it."
I asked Matthew what they see children choosing as "safe foods." They listed things like chicken fingers — "things that don't have much variance to them." Such things fall under safe foods because "they know what to expect when they bite into it."
If your child is eating enough food that provides a sustaining amount of calories and nutrients, it's OK if they only eat five foods, reassures Broberg-Moffitt. (Yes, really!)
Keeping "safe foods" on hand ensures that, if your child rejects what you offer, you have a better shot at ensuring they're still getting the calories and nutrients they need. The saying is true: Fed really is best.
How to Support an Autistic Employee Who Needs Extra Processing Time | Specialisterne Canada
Cassidy Huff on TikTok
i know im late to the trend, but better late than never🤷🏼♀️ #FYP #Disability #ForYou #Disabled #Mercedes #Trend #TikTok #Viral #Accessibility #Activism #Prosthesis #HardOfHearing #Prosthetic #Blind #LowVision #Wheelchair #WheelchairUser #Mobility #MobilityAid #Deaf #HearingAid
Critics Choice Awards on TikTok
#AmericaFerrera makes an increidble speech for her #SeeHer award at the #CriticsChoiceAwards 🩷
Reading Moses as Autistic in the Torah, Midrash & Gemara | Autistic Torah Blog — The #ActuallyAutistic Coach
In the diverse tapestry of the Jewish textual tradition, Moses is a figure of great significance, particularly for the autistic and neurodivergent community at large. His life, as depicted in the Torah and elucidated through the Midrash and the Gemara , presents a persona that many in the autis
Steven Kapp on Twitter / X
Our study found even strong supporters of social model of disability supported some interventions teaching adaptive skills & curing depression & epilepsy. Neurodiversity movement support was associated w/ desiring societal reform. environmental supports 👇https://t.co/TxMVxYuFrT— Steven Kapp (@drstevenkapp) January 18, 2024
(PDF) Community Views of Neurodiversity, Models of Disability, and Autism Intervention: Mixed Methods Reveal Shared Goals and Key Tensions
PDF | Controversies regarding the neurodiversity movement (NDM) may be exacerbated by confusion over its meaning. For example, some suggest... | Find, read and cite all the research you need on ResearchGate
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Self-Identification is the Future of Autism Assessment
Instead of trying to reform the diagnostic process, we should work to move past it.
Life in the compost heap of the industrialised mono-cult
It is impossible to recover from Autistic burnout within the established institutional landscape. The emergence of ecologies of care is the emergence of a beautiful diversity of human scale cultura…
The ecological niche of A♾tistic peoples
Surviving on the edges of modern society is an Art. The Arts and regular immersion in genuinely safe Open Spaces help us imagine and co-create ecologies of care in which care and mutual aid are the…
Education is anarchy - Freedom News
What should we teach, to whom, how best should we do it, and why?
2024 camhs emotional wellbeing report spectrum gaming
MQ Assessment
What does neurodiversity really imply for education? | BPS
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Peter Lammer is a chef in a restaurant in Germany. 🇩🇪 👀.
Politicizing Neurodiversity
Robert Chapman on pushing past biological understandings of autism, ADHD, and neurodiversity.
Monotropism, Young People and Autistic Burnout — Neurodiverse Connection
Helen Edgar (Autistic Realms) examines how the theory of Monotropism provides a lens for understanding the challenges Autistic, ADHD and AuDHD young people face in the education system and at home, and how their needs can be better supported to avoid burnout.
What Works and For Whom? Effectiveness and Efficiency of School Capital Investments Across The U.S.
Founded in 1920, the NBER is a private, non-profit, non-partisan organization dedicated to conducting economic research and to disseminating research findings among academics, public policy makers, and business professionals.
'Autistic Tiger' child artist debuts at New York Comic Con
New York Comic Con attracts vendors of all backgrounds and abilities, but one young boy has a story as impressive as his art. ABC's Jay O'Brien has the detai...
Assessing Autism Through a Monotropism Lens - Living with Autism
Assessing Autism Through a Monotropism Lens
What is MCAD- Mast Cell Activation Diseases- Oh TWIST
What is MCAD- an umbrella term for the collection of mast cell diseases that range from MC Leukemia to Mastocytosis in the middle, to the much more common MCAS or Mast Cell Activation Syndrome, who test negative for Mastocytosis.
Connective issues | BPS
Co-Occurring Physical Health Challenges in Neurodivergent Children and Young People: A Topical Review and Recommendation
Neurodivergence has been established as associated with a significant number of co-occurring physical conditions, particularly for autistic individuals who are at risk for increased pain, hypermobi...
Neurodivergence has been established as associated with a significant number of co-occurring physical conditions, particularly for autistic individuals who are at risk for increased pain, hypermobility (including Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome) and gastrointestinal problems. However, data, so far, has been focused on adults and generally limited to discussions of condition prevalence alone.
It is clear from current evidence there is a co-occurring physical health disparity in neurodivergent adults. For example, neurodivergent adults display a higher expression of joint hypermobility and pain compared to neurotypical adults (Csecs et al., Citation2020). Furthermore, autistic women with generalised joint hypermobility (GJH) experience higher immune- and endocrine-conditions than autistic women without GJH (Casanova et al., Citation2018). However, it is vital to understand physical health in neurodivergent CYP (aged up to 25 years (National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), Citation2020)). Neurodivergent CYP experience worsened physical health conditions than neurotypical CYP (McLeod et al., Citation2019).