The Transmitter stories

An autistic researcher’s paper called attention to a huge disparity in autism funding research between children and adults. It nearly derailed her life.

Cheryl Dissanayake is a professor at La Trobe University in Melbourne, Australia, and the Olga Tennison Endowed Chair in Autism Research at the Olga Tennison Autism Research Center. She has been researching autism since 1984. Spectrum spoke with her about her path to autism science, the history of the field in Australia, and the importance of Melbourne hosting the 2024 INSAR annual conference, which Dissanayake will chair. In this conversation, Dissanayake mentions Margot Prior, Bruce Tonge, Lawrence Bartak, Ross Day, Stella Crosley, Marian Sigman, Beryl McKenzie and Olga Tennison — all notable names from Australia’s autism research community.

Spectrum talks with David Dobbs about researching his latest article, and what he found.

Host Chelsey B. Coombs talks to clinicians and people with autism about their experience of the pandemic, how their routines have changed and some of the unexpected benefits.

Social media is connecting families with researchers who study rare conditions related to autism — to the benefit of both.

Scientists are finding new ways to test cognition in autistic individuals who speak little or not at all.

Deep brain stimulation is not an approved treatment for autism but has helped some people with extreme obsessions and other severe traits. Host Ben Kuebrich investigates one success story.

Researchers are designing video games to hone visual-attention skills in children with autism. New host Ben Kuebrich explores.

Scientists discuss the problems with using mice to study autism, and explain how the field might move forward.

In this episode, host Jacob Brogan talks to autism researchers and families with children on the spectrum in France and Ethiopia. However different the two countries may be, advocates in both places are working to overturn outdated beliefs about autism that blame parents and block access to evidence-backed services and treatment.

In this episode of “Spectrum Stories,” host Jacob Brogan talks to clinicians about why anxiety is so common — but can be so hard to spot — in people with autism.

Many parents with children on the spectrum enroll their newborns in research — to advance the field and to bring benefits to families such as theirs.

We know that genes play a role in the condition; however, finding genes, and then knowing what they do is a challenge.