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Michelle Dawson

@autismcrisis.bsky.social

off-message autistic researcher

1160 Posts2379 Follower83 Folgt
Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 11h ago

In autism intervention research, influential studies are of such rock-bottom quality that those involved (with COIs) devised autism-specific low standards to accommodate the abysmal state of the literature. Of course, discarding & lowering standards this way harms autistics--it would harm anyone

Darren Dahly@statsepi.bsky.social · 14h ago

Most systematic reviews and meta- analyses now include some assessment of study quality but these don't usually impact a review's conclusions. It's typically just some tick boxes or traffic lights and vague qualitative statements. We should instead filter out poor studies. What is wrong with us?

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2d ago

In young autistics, "heightened emotional responsiveness to others exhibiting strong affect" acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... "prosocial motivation is not absent among autistic individuals; rather, the progression of empathy-related processes may be interrupted by emotion dysreguation"?

<em>Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry</em> | ACAMH Pediatric Journal | Wiley Online Library

Background Recent evidence suggests that many autistic individuals exhibit heightened emotional responsiveness to others' affect despite greater difficulty recognizing others' emotions and accuratel...

acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last wk.

In 6-25 year-olds referred for autism assessment (N=798), "The ADI-R and ADOS-2, alone or combined, did not achieve clinically acceptable levels of both sensitivity and specificity" www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti... "the ADI-R and ADOS-2... cannot replace integrated expert clinical judgment"

Diagnostic Accuracy of the Autism Diagnostic Interview–Revised and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule, Second Edition, in a Naturalistic High-Risk Autism Spectrum Disorder Sample Aged 6-25 Years

The Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R) and the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Second Edition (ADOS-2) are widely regarded as gold-sta…

sciencedirect.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2w ago

Caregivers of young autistics on their experiences of ABA, including "distrust of the services being provided" link.springer.com/article/10.1... "Maybe teaching them how to handle these kids, how to handle them without bruising them, how to handle them without you getting hurt or them getting hurt"

Caregiver Perceptions of Quality in Early Autism Behavior Analytic Services: A Reflexive Thematic Analysis - Behavior Analysis in Practice

Defining quality in applied behavior analytic support service is an evolving priority. As organizations begin creating professional and organizational standards, it is important that these metrics enc...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2w ago

Trying to find a general neurodevelopmental ("n") factor? acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... "results do not support the hypothesis that a single factor underlies the shared genetic architecture of autism, ADHD, Tourette's syndrome, intellectual disability, DCD and language disorders"

JCPP Advances | ACAMH Child Development Journal | Wiley Online Library

Background Neurodevelopmental conditions often emerge early in life and have substantial genetic influences. There are significant genetic correlations between neurodevelopmental conditions, such as...

acamh.onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2w ago

Cognitive aging in autistics vs nonautistics? cross-sectional data link.springer.com/article/10.1... "Age-related effects were similar between groups across most domains" "findings provide evidence for a parallel and safeguarded aging pattern in autism, arguing against accelerated cognitive decline"

Cognitive Aging Patterns in Autism: Parallel, Accelerated, or Safeguarded? - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Purpose Research in autism has historically focused on childhood, leaving cognitive aging in autistic adults poorly understood. This study investigated whether cognitive aging in autism follows simila...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 3w ago

"researchers have long disagreed about how to define empathy" "In both academic and applied domains--such as medicine, ethics, law, and policy--empathy has become an enticing but muddy notion, prone to misinterpretation" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... autism-relevant, free

What We Talk About When We Talk About Empathy: Toward a Common Lexicon of Empathy-Related Constructs - Mark H. Davis, Sara Konrath, Fritz Breithaupt, C. Daryl Cameron, Jean Decety, Frans B. M. de Waal...

Almost since the term “empathy” was coined, there has been scholarly disagreement about its meaning. Today it can best be viewed as an umbrella term encompassin...

journals.sagepub.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 3w ago

"same neurotype dyads (both no-autism and autism dyads) did not communicate more efficiently than mixed-neurotype dyads" "no differences in rapport were found between same- and mixed-neurotype dyads" link.springer.com/article/10.1... "findings challenge key predictions of the double empathy theory"

Communication Efficiency in Autism is Unaffected by Neurotype Match: Findings From a Collaborative Referencing Task - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Purpose Autism is associated with social interaction and communication difficulties. The theory of the double empathy problem challenges the idea that these difficulties are inherent to autism, arguin...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 3w ago

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) in autistics aged 14 & up onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... finding "meaningful divergence from typical non-autistic presentations, characterized not only by differences in methods but also by a distinctive childhood onset and a longer interval since NSSI onset"

Recent Non‐Suicidal Self‐Injury in Autistic Adolescents and Adults: Characteristics, Clinical Correlates and Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors

Non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI) is prevalent among autistic adolescents and adults, yet research on its clinical characteristics, functions, and association with suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 3w ago

A new "pre-emptive" intervention for "infants and toddlers at increased likelihood for autism"? link.springer.com/article/10.1... RCT finds "a positive treatment effect on the parent in terms of improved parental scaffolding and affect" but "the absence of significant treatment effects on the child"

Short-term outcomes and six-month follow-up of BEAR: a blended, pre-emptive intervention for infants and toddlers at elevated likelihood for autism - European Child & Adolescent Psychiatry

To improve access to early interventions for infants and toddlers with a neurodevelopmental vulnerability, the BEAR (Blended E-health for children at eArly Risk) intervention was developed. BEAR is a ...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 4w ago

"How like Rett is 'Rett-Like'?"--autism-relevant, free onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... "Despite its widespread use in the published literature, the term ‘Rett-like’ remains undefined" "Clinical utility of this term is limited, with little to no evidence of diagnostic or prognostic use"

The utility of the term ‘Rett‐like’ in relation to Rett syndrome: A systematic review

Our findings show that ‘Rett-like’ generally describes females with developmental disability, typically with no period of regression. We establish that there is a broad genetic landscape encompassing....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 4w ago

In young autistic children, hand-leading gestures "represent potential adaptive components of early communication and should be understood within the broader developmental context rather than viewed solely as markers of impairment" journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... free

Hand Leading in Autism: Associations With Neurocognitive Profiles and Adaptive Abilities - Carolina Belisário Bizutti Fernandes, Rebecca McNally Keehn, Brandon Keehn, 2026

Background Hand-leading (HL) gestures used to obtain assistance or direct another person's actions are often reported at elevated rates in autistic childre...

journals.sagepub.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Across interacting autistic/autistic, non-autistic/non-autistic & autistic/non-autistic dyads, not finding differences in head motion synchrony onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... but finding "novel evidence linking increased synchrony to reduced interaction enjoyment and increased discomfort"

Automated Quantification of Head Motion Synchrony in Peer Interactions of Autistic and Non‐Autistic Youth

Peer interactions take on increasing importance for youth in middle childhood and adolescence. Autistic youth face particular challenges interacting with non-autistic peers; thus, it is critical to u...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

"findings indicate a trend toward reduced motor preparatory benefit from predictability in autism"? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... "results focus attention on reduced spontaneous predictive motor preparation as a possible sensorimotor contribution to autism's more visible manifestations"?

Reduced Motor Preparation and Altered EEG Signatures of Prediction in Autistic Adults

During EEG recording, autistic and non-autistic adults were presented with auditory sequences where tones cued the probability of a subsequent imperative target. The autistic group showed less effect...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

In a case series of N=28 autistics (aged 4-19) in an intensive ABA program, N=11 were subject to response blocking (an ABA punishment procedure), N=10 were subject to RIRD (an ABA punishment procedure), N=7 were subject to unspecified forms of punishment link.springer.com/article/10.1... ABA in 2026

Descriptive Analyses of Treatment for Automatically Maintained Behavior - Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities

Extinction may be difficult to implement when targeting automatically maintained behavior because the putative maintaining reinforcer cannot be directly observed. The exact behavioral mechanism of pro...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Community advisory boards (CABs) in autism research, scoping review finds 22 studies--"benefits were reported narratively and were not formally evaluated"? link.springer.com/article/10.1... only 1 study considers the possibility of harms from CABs? no mention at all of conflicts of interest in CABs?

Understanding the Use of Community Advisory Boards in Autism Research: A Scoping Review - Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Community engagement is increasingly promoted as a good practice in autism research, yet little is known about how Community Advisory Boards are used. This scoping review mapped the extent and nature ...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Autistics "can update their decision-making strategies in perceptual decision-making tasks when asked to emphasise either speed or accuracy" link.springer.com/article/10.3... "These results add to other studies suggesting that cognitive flexibility is not uniformly reduced in autistic participants"

Autistic and non-autistic children’s perceptual decision-making in visual orientation and motion tasks and the effect of task instructions - Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics

Abstract Diffusion decision models (DDMs) offer the potential to go beyond standard accuracy and response-time indices to better understand perceptual decision-making in autism. One unanswered questio...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Comparing autistics & non-autistics who received ECT for catatonia? "Autistic patients with catatonia required more ECT sessions over a longer period of time"? "intellectual disability was present in 88% of autistic but only 12% of non-autistic patients"? onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... free

Electroconvulsive Therapy for Catatonia in Autistic and Non‐Autistic Patients: An Observational Study on Course, Efficacy, Aggression, and Self‐Injury Outcomes

Catatonia occurs disproportionately in autistic individuals and may respond to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), yet prior reports suggest greater treatment burden in this population. We compared long...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Behavior analysts (COIs) train autistics aged 5-8 to automatically & totally comply with fake physical exams conducted by fake doctors in "medical attire"--autistics were trained never to cry, whine, or move even slightly away from the fake doctors link.springer.com/article/10.1... ABA in 2026

Teaching Autistic Children to Cooperate with a Comprehensive Mock Physical Exam - Behavior Analysis in Practice

The current study taught six autistic children to actively and passively cooperate during routine physical examinations. A nonconcurrent multiple-baseline design across participants was used to evalua...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Parents on harmful behaviors in autistic children journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "The spectre of suicide was a constant reality for these families" "Parents described their Autistic child saying, 'can you please kill me, Mummy?'... 'talking about hating life & not wanting to be alive anymore'"

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

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Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

"the operationalization of autism by education and clinical systems are so different that we are observing two partially distinct subsets of children"? link.springer.com/article/10.1... findings "raise important questions about how autism is defined and operationalized in public health surveillance"

Differences in Community Recognition of Autism Between Special Education and Clinicians: Insights From Public Health Surveillance in Arizona - Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders

Purpose Public health surveillance of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) relies on identifying the condition in educational and/or clinical contexts. However, the criteria used to operationalize ASD for s...

link.springer.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

"Antidepressant prescribing has increased more for autistic adults than non-autistic adults since 1997, with more new starters, higher doses and longer course durations" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... "This potentially increases the risk of adverse medication effects for autistic adults..."

Antidepressant Prescribing Trends for Adults With and Without Autism in the United Kingdom From 1997 to 2023: A Population‐Based Cohort Study Using Clinical Practice Research Datalink Aurum

Antidepressant prescribing and autism diagnoses have increased in recent years. We aimed to describe and compare trends in antidepressant prescribing, indications, doses and durations in autistic and...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · last mo.

Early autism screening? at ages 6, 9, & 12 months, all screeners "performed poorly"--e.g. on M-CHAT-R, "the vast majority of children screened positive" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... at ages 18 & 24 months "findings clearly support the use of multiple screeners, with repeated screenings"?

Autism Screening in the First Year and Beyond: Comparison of Multiple Measures

Autism screening aids in early detection and diagnosis. Several screeners are available for toddlers 16 months and older, but there is little data on the accuracy of screening measures used in the fi...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Predictors of change in parent-report "self-injurious behaviors" (SIBs) in autistic children? "SIBs are highly prevalent" "only 9% did not have SIBs at either timepoint" onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... not mentioned: type & amount of autism interventions received & resulting potential harms

Predictors of Change in Severity of Self‐Injurious Behaviors in Preschool‐Aged Autistic Children

Self-injurious behaviors (SIBs) affect up to 50% of autistic individuals and significantly impact quality of life and everyday functioning. Cross-sectional studies link the presence of SIB to lower I....

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2mo ago

ABA procedures & standards harm autistics, again onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... "a leaner schedule of reinforcement... engenders a fair amount of destructive behavior" "proportion-of-baseline values could obscure just how high rates of severe destructive behavior are in the test condition"

Relative effects of four resurgence‐mitigation strategies informed by behavioral momentum theory

Behavioral momentum theory (BMT) posits that particular independent variables may be adjusted during routine differential-reinforcement treatments (e.g., functional communication training) to reduce ...

onlinelibrary.wiley.com

Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2mo ago

Age at first autism diagnosis vs well-being?--data from MoBa (N=2,483), free journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "Taken together, these results indicate that both the observational relationship between age at autism diagnosis and well-being and its confounding are more complex than anticipated"

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Michelle Dawson@autismcrisis.bsky.social · 2mo ago

"terminology preferences... suggested only modest overall differences in liking & offensiveness ratings between autistic parents, autistic non-parents, & non-autistic parents"? journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... "Notably, 'profound autism' was especially strongly disliked in this sample" (N=3,181)

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

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