Employment has been shown to be a strong predictor of recovery in individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) and is often amongst the foremost reported goals of this population. Yet individuals with SMI continue to face high levels of unemployment and employment marginalisation. This article aims to outline three major career barriers unique to…

Although it is recognised that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and personality disorders (PDs) have a variety of factors in common, the exact nature of the relationship between ASD and the PDs remains unclear. The overlapping symptom profiles and complexities in developmental trajectories in ASD and PDs can lead to diagnostic uncertainty and to…

Background: Familiarity breeds complacency. One case of sore throat can start to sound like another. However, even common viral and bacterial infections can lead to serious sequelae. Clinicians cannot make a diagnosis if they do not consider it in their differential. Case: The presentation -- and subsequent hospitalization -- of a septic 19…

Anxiety is now recognized as one of the most common co-occurring conditions in youth diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Despite the prevalence of this comorbid condition, accurate assessment and diagnosis of anxiety in ASD has proven difficult. This paper will address the considerable research literature on assessing anxiety in youth…

Studies of autistic traits in the general population are becoming increasingly prevalent. In this letter to the editor, we caution researchers against framing and interpreting studies of autistic traits in the general population as extending to autism and implore them to be clear about when their study sample does and does not include autistic…

Individuals living with intellectual disability can have multiple co-occurring medical conditions including associated genetic diagnoses. The number of genetic etiologies associated with ID is growing, with some quite new and rare, and others more common and associated with what is often considered a syndrome. In the context of genetic etiologies…

Mass trauma events affect everyone including children. Resulting symptomatic problems for children can be addressed by clinical professionals yet at some point following these mass trauma events children must return to school but their teachers are seldom prepared to work with them to facilitate a return to learning, though they undoubtedly spend…

Children with mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA (MPS-IIIA) may receive a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) due to MPS-IIIA's initial symptom similarities with ASD. This may lead to professionals receiving referrals to work with these children but unaware of how these children may respond differently to treatment. To appropriately work with…

Turner syndrome (TS) is a chromosomal disorder, caused by either complete or partial X monosomy (i.e., absence of one member of a pair of chromosomes) in some or all cells. It affects approximately 1 in 2,500 female live births. However, only about 1% of fetuses with 45, X karyotype (image of one's chromosomes) are carried to term, and up to 10%…

The clinical diagnostic process for autism is complex, especially because of the high co-occurrence with other neurodevelopmental and mental health conditions (Gillberg, 2010; Lai et al., 2019). Diagnosis is more complicated in youth and adults than in younger children because life experience and development affect presentation. In particular, it…

Contact tracing is essential to help monitor and control the spread of the highly contagious COVID-19 virus. Many universities across the United States have developed and implemented contact tracing programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this viewpoint article, we characterized and reflected on the unique challenges of contact tracing in…

Narcolepsy is not a common disorder, with best estimates finding it affects only about 0.025-0.05% of the population. Nonetheless, it is a vital disorder for school psychologists to be familiar with on the basis that its symptoms frequently first occur during childhood and adolescence. If undiagnosed, this disorder causes significant distress and…

"Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that is neurobiological in origin. Dyslexia is characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities. These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological component of language that is often unexpected in relation to…

Phelan-McDermid syndrome (PMS), also called 22q13.3 deletion syndrome, is a rare genetic disorder affecting at least 2,000 people worldwide (Phelan-McDermid Syndrome Foundation, 2019, How rare is Phelan-McDermid?). PMS has many distinguishing characteristics and many medical specialties have been recommended to treat the clinical features. While…

It is common for children with autism spectrum disorder to experience feeding problems that develop at an early age and include picky eating, food refusal, and rapid eating. This can lead to medical complications such as gastrointestinal issues or nutritional deficiencies. Feeding problems in children with autism can result in social-emotional…