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The fine motor skills autistic children exhibit while eating, writing or even buttoning their shirt, might seem trivial but can act as a strong predictor to identify if they are at risk of developing lasting language disabilities, suggest a new study. The association between fine motor skills and autistic child's language development was found in a study published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry. In an American sample of language-delayed children with autism, researchers found that nearly half had extremely delayed fine motor skills. Of this group, 77.5 per cent who had extremely delayed motor skills continued to have language disabilities in later childhood or young adulthood. By contrast, 69.6 per cent of children who demonstrated less impaired fine motor skills overcame their language delays by late childhood or young adulthood. Read Complete Article

Budget 2019 : People with autism can recognise complex emotions such as regret and relief in fellow humans, shows a research that breaks a persistent stereotype that people with mental, emotional and behavioural disorders lack empathy and cannot understand emotion. Psychologists from the University of Kent in Britain used eye-tracking technology to monitor the adults as they read stories in which a character made a decision and then experienced a positive or negative outcome. They found that adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) were quickly able to think about how things might have turned out differently (either better or worse than reality) and then judge whether the story character would regret or get relief which is known as counterfactual emotions. The findings, published in the journal Autism Research, demonstrated that they were just as good at recognizing regret emotions in the character as adults without the condition and even better at computing relief....

Google Glass -- an eye-wearable device that made headlines in 2015 but failed in the consumer technology space -- has now rekindled the hopes of millions of people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) globally, including in India. Although no official numbers are available, at least 70 million people have autism worldwide, including over 10 million in India. According to Dr Ned Sahin, Founder and CEO of Brain Power, a US-based science-driven company, Augmented Reality (AR)-powered wearable computers can help those with ASD gain confidence, clarity, understanding, social integration and self-sufficiency. There is no cure for autism but early diagnosis and intervention with therapies does improve the long-term outcome. "We need help. We need families and schools to support the first wave of technology for autism and special school communities. "I am open to collaboration if there is an interest from schools, organisations and families from India. We can custo...

Using Facebook in moderation can boost happiness in adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a study has found. The finding could not be generalised to overall use of social media, however, because the same was not true of those who used Twitter, researchers said. Researchers from Fielding Graduate University and University of Virginia in the US found that while happiness and Facebook use increased together up to a certain point, the beneficial effect of social media use then waned. The researchers propose that that ability to interact with others on Facebook, instead of in more challenging face-to-face interactions may help protect these individuals against mental health issues associated with ASD such as depression. "Some studies report that up to 50 per cent of adults with ASD have co-occurring social anxiety disorder. Facebook may provide a safe starting point for training and refinement of conversational skills," said Brenda K Wiederhold, Editor-i...