In the past two decades, our societies have become more fluent in the language of mental health. Public campaigns  encourage people to...

Over the past decade, mental health awareness campaigns have expanded significantly across the Western world. These efforts, ranging from...

Autism has undergone a remarkable transformation in recent decades. Once thought of as a rare and narrowly defined childhood condition,...

In most cases, ASD is diagnosed between 15 and 30 months. Some children exhibit typical early development, only to lose acquired language and social skills between 15 and 30 months. These cases qualify as regressive autism. However, there are instances of late onset autism where individuals appear to develop typically until adolescence or even adulthood before displaying symptoms consistent with autism. In such cases, an identifiable neurological insult, such as, e.g, herpes

Regression in autism, often seen within the first two years of life, represents a distinct subtype of autism that has sparked considerable scientific interest. While the exact causes of regression are still not fully understood, current research points to a combination of genetic, environmental, metabolic, immune, and neurological factors.

Complex developmental path s Regression  in autism refers to the loss of previously acquired developmental skills—such as spoken...

It’s easy to get caught up in the search for new symbols, new slogans, new ways to “reframe” autism. But the risk is that these abstract concepts become so polished, so removed from the daily lived reality of many autistic individuals, that they stop representing them at all. Not everything has to be shiny or new. Not everything has to be metaphorical or aspirational. Sometimes, the most powerful way to accept autism is not through symbols—but through sustained, patient, and

Theory of Mind (ToM) is a critical aspect of social cognition and undergoes significant developmental changes from infancy to adulthood....

Theory of Mind (ToM) refers to the ability to attribute mental states—such as beliefs, intentions, and emotions—to oneself and others,...

Alexithymia is considered a “sub-clinical phenomenon” (Silani et al. 2008) and doesn’t identify a personality disorder  per se  but is a...

The connection between alexithymia and ASD was initially explored in the 1990s through clinical studies on individuals with eating...

The Diagnostic Difficulties Chronic pain is quite common in autism , yet it is often unrecognised (and undiagnosed). The diagnosis of...

‘Autistic people don’t do metaphors’ Because of their literal interpretation, autistic children do experience difficulties in...

Overlapping symptoms and differences Narcissistic Personality Disorder (NPD) and ASD are two distinct condition. However, they share...

- Hello, where are you? - I am at home. - At home? Where? ...

Sometimes sensory hypersensitivities are misinterpreted as extrasensory perception (ESP) as ‘normal’ people not only fail to see, hear,...

A painful truth Sensory stimuli can be experienced very differently by autistic individuals. Just because we may not feel something, it...

There are other types of echolalia that are difficult to explain, for example, involuntary echolalia , when the person blurts out words...

Though echolalia can be non-communicative , in many cases it is used for communication. Parents of autistic children (with echolalia) can...

If it’s not for communication, what’s the point? As I didn’t know much at the time, I made a mistake thinking that as soon as my son...