It’s More Than Sounds – How ASD Affects Word Choice and Speech Rate
A team of scientists from the Quantitative Linguistics Lab (QL2) at the Center for Autism Research (CAR) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), led by Julia Parish-Morris, PhD, are examining speech samples from hundreds of children with the goal of determining how verbal interactions change over developmental time, how these interactions differ in individuals with autism, and what kinds of interventions can help individuals reach their maximum potential.
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Categories: Speech and Language
Girls, Boys and the Language of Autism
Cultural norms profoundly influence the ways we believe boys and girls “should” typically play, interact socially, and communicate. For example, cultural norms would predict that from a basket of toys, boys would pick the cars and trucks, while girls would choose the dolls.
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Categories: Speech and Language
Babies, Babbles and ASD
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disability that affects an individual’s social interaction and communication, among other behaviors. Although language impairment is not a core feature of ASD, many individuals on the autism spectrum struggle with using language appropriately in social contexts.
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Categories: Speech and Language
Crossroads of Adverse Childhood Experiences, PTSD, and Autism Symptoms
Without a specific, objective diagnostic test for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), clinicians can struggle to distinguish behavioral symptoms of ASD from depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), or other behaviorally-based disorders.
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Categories: Early Childhood Development, Associated Conditions
From Picky to Adventurous Eater
Food selectivity, or picky eating, can be the source of significant difficulties for autistic individuals and their families. As a child develops a selective food palate, it may first be developmentally appropriate in early childhood and only pose mild challenges to family eating habits and mealtime.
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Categories: Early Childhood Development, Associated Conditions
Hefty Toll for Autistic Children
Childhood obesity continues to be a concern for parents and healthcare providers alike. In the recent years, overweight and obesity have emerged as important issues among autism researchers.
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Categories: Early Childhood Development, Associated Conditions
Doctors’ orders: "Play Your Medicine?" Promising results for a Digitalized Medicine to reduce ADHD symptoms
ADHD is very common among children on the autism spectrum, with researchers estimating as many as 50 percent of children with ASD have some ADHD symptoms
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Categories: Associated Conditions
Celebrating 10 Years: A Special Report on the Past, Present, and Future of Research CAR
2018 marks the the 10th anniversary of CAR's founding. We are celebrating with a series of blog posts and the release of a special report on the past, present and future of CAR's research. We are grateful for your partnership and excited for what lies on the near horizon.
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Categories: Center and Staff News, Current Events and Announcements
Strength In Numbers
Hundreds of different genetic factors contribute to autism and likely a similar number of environmental factors. Each combines differently to affect an individual diagnosed with ASD. The many different possible combinations of genomic and environmental “risk factors” results in many different individuals with ASD.
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Categories: Genetics
The Revolution Will Be… Digitized
In the three years since its inception, the Center for Autism Research (CAR)’s Technology and Innovation Lab has developed tools with the potential to revolutionize the way in which psychologists assess a child for ASD and related conditions, like ADHD, anxiety, and depression. Researchers predict that these new tools will improve our ability to measure the effectiveness of behavioral therapies or medication and to develop new, targeted therapies and support plans.
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Categories: Movement and Behavior