ReThinking Autism Blog
Mouth Development in Autism
Underdiagnosed Problems That Parents Should Know About My son is 18 and has severe autism. Since his regression just before his second birthday we’ve seen six speech language pathologists, four dentists and one ENT doctor. I raised the issue of either breathing or...
What happens when your adult child needs hospitalisation?
Please find our most recent blog, this one from the parent of a young adult with autism. If you happen to have any further suggestions or resources to help out families who find themselves in this situation, please send them to us. My son Ben, aged 21, was recently...
Press Release: Vaccine passports would deepen discrimination against people with autism
Thinking Autism charity warns that vaccine passports could further entrench discrimination against people with autismIn World Autism Month, national charity Thinking Autism has warned that vaccine passports could further entrench discrimination against people with...
The Neglected Side of Autism – Why We MUST Talk Medical
We are getting it wrong and ignorance is hurtingA few weeks ago, I read some posts on an autism support group that upset me profoundly. Questions were being asked about how to stop a child with autism from withholding bowel movements. Comments were made about small...
Finding your kindness: Autism and COVID-19
Finding your kindness: Autism and COVID-19 I’m holding my son’s hand as we walk through the parking lot toward the grocery store. People give us looks. He’s 17 and they likely cannot understand why we’re holding hands. We’re used to this but the judgement seems to be...
My Son’s Autism and Disability: Unintended Consequences of a Polarised Debate
The social and medical models of disability What could possibly motivate a busy parent like myself, with not enough hours in the day, to take time out to write about the social and medical models of disability? The incentive, a very powerful one, is my son, who has...
Autism and auditory processing
The impact of auditory processing issues in autism It is well understood that many on the autism spectrum experience challenges with processing a range of sensory information. This is wonderfully covered in previous Thinking Autism blogs ‘Misperceptions of ASD...
Misperceptions of ASD Neurodiversity and Health Recovery
As a Chartered Psychologist, child development researcher and author in the autism/ASD field, I frequently meet misperceptions of neurodiversity in relation to programmes for autism and health recovery. Somehow or other the belief has developed that to offer such help to an individual on the autistic spectrum is to deny their neurodiversity. In this blog I suggest a new way of looking at this subject…
An Introduction to Vision Therapy as a Treatment for Autism
I hope that my journey in vision therapy will serve not only as a roadmap for people with mild autism to find their way out of the labyrinth of disability but as something that can provide clues to help those with more severe autism find their way to a life more fully lived.
Turning the Tide of Behaviourism
Please find below some thoughts from Romulus Campan, an adult with autism and a delegate at our recent conference. I had the pleasure of talking to Rom at the conference. I cannot remember the last time I met someone so open-minded, eager to take in new information in...
Autism acceptance – false dichotomies and the damage done
When discussing autism—especially on the internet and in the media—there are way too many people who recklessly engage in false dichotomy. It’s a kind of extremism that gets us nowhere…I can say with 100% certainty that while I seek treatments for my child with autism, my acceptance of him is unconditional.
What is wrong with The Labour Party’s “Autism Neurodiversity Manifesto” and autism identity politics?
Recently in the UK, a “Neurodiversity Manifesto” has been shared by the Labour Party. It has five key principles, each of them lacking in nuance, unreflective of the lived experiences, and ignoring research data.
Interested in more insights and facts about autism? Read Thinking Autism science articles
Brain Energy Crisis in Autism: A Deep Dive
Glucose Metabolism in the Brain — Cracking the Code of the Autism Puzzle — Impairments in brain energy glucose metabolism, particularly in astrocytes, can account for the emergence of all autism symptoms, regardless of the upstream causes and pathologies. The...
Brain Glucose and Glycogen in Autism: Speech, Seizures, Sleep & Beyond
The following article is written by an autism parent and researcher, who has an interest in both autism and sports sciences. It lays out possible underlying reasons for some of the struggles and symptoms associated with autism. It is not possible to say who might...
Autism and metabolic diseases – more treatable ‘autisms’ hiding in plain sight?
Metabolism is the process through which our bodies convert nutrients from food and drink into energy. We need energy for the basics of life, such as breathing or blood circulation, and so countless metabolic processes take place in our cells and our organs all the...
Aggression In Autism – One Simple Cause
In addition to the core symptoms of autism, which include social communication difficulties, restricted interests, and sensory processing difficulties, both children and adults with autism often present with many other ‘autism-related’ symptoms and behaviours....
Depression in Autism – More Than Meets The Eye?
High rates of depression and suicide in autism Depression is a common and serious problem in autism, and one of the main contributors to poor quality of life. Both children and adults with autism experience high rates of depression and other mood disorders. One...
Autoimmune Encephalitis – A Treatable Form Of ‘Autism’
Autoimmune encephalitis is a class of inflammatory diseases of the brain that can present with a wide spectrum of neurological and psychiatric symptoms. The word autoimmune means that the body, or the person’s immune system, is attacking its own healthy tissues.What...
‘From Bench to Biopharma’ International Conference on Translational Research in Autism – Day 1 Recap
Synchrony symposia, organised by The BRAIN Foundation in partnership with UC Davis MIND Institute and CalTech, is the first and only international conference on translational research in autism that brings together academia, biotech, pharmaceutical companies and...
NEW UK Autism Research Hub: The Synapse Centre for Neurodevelopment ESNEFT
The Synapse Centre for NeurodevelopmentThe Synapse Centre, based within the ESNEFT (East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust) is a new research centre based in the East of England looking to translate biomedical research into practical therapies for local...
Addressing Poor Health & High Death Rates in Autism
“We must first recognise ASD as a whole body disorder” Autism, or Autism Spectrum Disorder ASD, is traditionally seen as the result of behavioural and neuropsychiatric dysfunction. However there is a strong evidence that various physical, or biomedical, problems can...