Autistic adults are often perceived as having an atypical speech. The acoustic characteristics of these impressions prove surprisingly difficult to delineate, but one feature that does robustly emerge across different studies is higher pitch (F0 values) in autistic versus neurotypical individuals. However, there is no clear explanation why…

Societal expectations for social-emotional behavior differ across sexes; however, diagnostic definitions of autism do not account for this when delineating "typical" versus "atypical." This study examines sex differences in autism in one behavior associated with strong gender biases: smiling. Computer vision was used to…

This study estimated the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder in a 5-year inpatient cohort of children and adolescents diagnosed with first-episode psychosis in two Hong Kong teaching hospitals, and explored the clinical characteristics predicting first-episode psychosis-autism spectrum disorder comorbidity. The autism spectrum disorder…

Early detection of autism spectrum condition is crucial for children to maximally benefit from early intervention. The study examined a machine learning model predicting the increased likelihood for autism from wellness records from 0 to 24 months. The study included 591,989 non-autistic and 12,846 autistic children. A gradient boosting model with…

Racial/ethnic minoritized youth are underrepresented in autism research. Documented inequities in accessibility to and utilization of autism-specific services highlight the importance of better understanding for whom and under what conditions autism evidence-based practices (EBPs) work. This report examines the race, ethnicity, sex, and gender of…

In the typically developing population, social touch experiences are influenced by several factors, including the biological sex of toucher and receiver, the body area wherein the touch is delivered and the social context in which the tactile exchange occurs. However, it is currently unexplored how social touch experiences of autistic adults are…

Most studies of how parents of children with autism view the parent-child relationship used self-report questionnaires and focused on challenges. This study broadened the lens by interviewing parents using open-ended questions that provide an opportunity to raise challenging but also positive experiences. Seventy-five mother-father dyads were…

Age at autism diagnosis is associated with sex assigned at birth (hereafter, "sex"), such that girls/women are more likely to be delayed or "missed" entirely in the diagnostic process compared to boys/men. Later diagnosed individuals, especially girls/women, demonstrate increased anxious/depressive symptoms. Data on autistic…

Several validated adult autism symptom screening tools exist; however, there are concerns about the validity of instruments in adults who self-identify and those who have an autism diagnosis. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of the RAADS-R and RAADS-14 across gender, autism diagnosis and autistic identity, and age among a sample of…

Differences in (autism) characteristics are often reported between autistic and non-autistic adults but also between autistic adults. We aimed to determine whether mean differences correspond to differences in network structure of these characteristics in (1) autistic and non-autistic adults and (2) two previously identified autism subgroups. A…

Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition, characterized by altered social communication and repetitive behavior. Typically diagnosed in early childhood, screening and diagnosis at a later age can be challenging, particularly in girls who exhibit a wider range of behaviors and characteristics. This study aimed to examine the Childhood Autism…

Despite very high rates of suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) in autistic adults, the key psychosocial drivers of this phenomenon remain unknown. To investigate, we examined how lifetime stressor exposure and severity, which have been found to predict STB in non-autistic populations, related to STB in a multinational dataset of 226 autistic…

Special education services are crucial for enhancing outcomes and well-being among autistic students. Unfortunately, many racially and ethnically minoritized and girl autistic youth face challenges in timely and accurate identification. National-level data reveal autism prevalence rates differ across student gender, race, and ethnicity hindering…

Evidence suggests increased mortality rates among autistic individuals. However, risks of mortality, including natural-cause, suicide, and accident mortalities, among autistic individuals remain unclear. Among the entire Taiwanese population (N = 29,253,529), between 2003 and 2017, 45,398 autistic individuals were identified and 1:4 matched to…

Camouflaging is hypothesized to play an important role in developing mental health difficulties. But this might not be true for everyone. It remains unclear for whom camouflaging is associated with mental health. In this preregistered study (AsPredicted #45095), we investigated whether (1) camouflaging and mental health were associated and (2) we…