☀️ Family Matters Issue #2
This issue was originally sent to our subscribers on April 19, 2022. Sign up for our newsletters here!
Welcome to Family Matters, a newsletter covering the autism space and the best resources to support what matters most: your family.
News
Companies are making big moves for neurodivergent children and their families. The LEGO Foundation is investing $20 million to fund inclusive play and learning. American Airlines brings back its practice flight program for kids with autism and disabilities to help calm anxiety at the airport and during travel. AMC Theaters introduces sensory friendly films on the big screen so your child can run around and stim while enjoying a movie at lower volume and lighting! Sensory Friendly Sundays at Chuck E. Cheese are back this month! For those who prefer (or need) to stay at home, Netflix creates a “short-a** movies” category for people with shorter attention spans thanks to Pete Davidson. Now if only they can create an autism friendly category!
Research
A new report found that autistic mothers need more support while breastfeeding. Dr. Aimee Grant and her team found that many health professionals and services did not understand how to support autistic mothers and that most new parents feel overwhelmed.
The review includes key recommendations for health professionals:
- Verbal communication should be clear, direct and specific
- Follow up with written information
- Mothers should not be touched without explicit consent, like when demonstrating breastfeeding attachment
- Staff should receive training related to autism and neurodivergence
- Autistic mothers should have a single health professional (“continuity of caregiver”) to provide maternity and infant feeding support to avoid needing to repeat their needs to new members of staff
- Guidance on communication and sensory needs should be included in maternity notes and the child’s health records
—
Aimee Grant et al, Autistic women’s views and experiences of infant feeding: A systematic review of qualitative evidence, Autism (2022). DOI: 10.1177/13623613221089374
Customized support for autistic men and women is possible in the future thanks to brain scanning technology.
Recent studies used deep learning algorithms (this is a type of machine learning where scientists are teaching computers to think like humans) to predict if a person might experience difficulties with socializing and communication. Scanning over 800 autistic and non-autistic individuals, the tool was able to detect who had an autistic brain with about 78% accuracy.
This tool can also detect differences in autistic men and women, helping us better understand the autistic female brain. The new study shows that there are gender-specific differences in the sensory and motor networks which supports previous research that not all autistic brains look alike. Scientists are gathering more information to better inform how we can identify autism in females earlier.
Autistic women are 3–4x more likely to attempt suicide than neurotypical women. Anxiety and depression are also very common in neurodivergent women, especially those who go undiagnosed. To better support neurodivergent women, we need better diagnostic tests to identify autism in women.
—
Hess P. Neural network finds markers of autism, gender in brain scans. Spectrum. Published online 2022. doi:10.53053/cnxk2208
What we’re chewing on…
Autistic children are 14x more likely to have atypical eating habits than non-autistic children. We talked to doctors and autism experts to bring you this guide for helping your picky and selective eaters.
—
Mayes SD, Zickgraf H: Atypical eating behaviors in children and adolescents with autism, ADHD, other disorders, and typical development. Res Autism Spectr Disord 2019, 64:76–83. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2019.04.002
What’s on our mind…
Beaming Health co-founder Marissa Pittard interviewed autistic actor Major Dodson on a special episode of The Heart of Healthcare podcast, sharing the current state of the neurodiversity movement, and the need to create a better experience for this community.
On the bright side…
Meet a talented artist we hope to work with when he’s older.
If you enjoyed this newsletter by Beaming Health, please share with a friend!
Want more? Sign up for your own personal copy here!
