Published by: Philadelphia Business Group
Written by: John George

While some people on the autism spectrum are struggling with the pandemic, a subset of that group — for whom a socially distant world is ideally suited — is actually thriving.

Dr. Wendy Ross is hoping members of that subset can provide advice for people having difficulties adjusting to workplace and environment changes that have occurred during the Covid-19 outbreak.

“There is a lot to be learned from some people on the spectrum about remote learning and remote interactions,” said Ross, director of the Jefferson Center for Austim and Neurodiversity. “I would not wish Covid on the world, to be clear, but this is an opportunity for people who have traditionally been seen as different, or people who are seen as needing to learn how to be social. Here is an opportunity for them to be the educators and the leaders. It’s a role-reversal.” Click here to read the rest of the story

Published By: Cerebral Palsy News Today
Written By: Grace Frank

While there are few silver linings to the cloud created by COVID-19, the pandemic that has killed tens of thousands, hobbled economies worldwide and drove millions to quarantine in their homes, one may be a new appreciation of telemedicine.

“If something good could come out of this crisis, it’s that we would learn how valuable telehealth could be to our community,” said Steven Shook, a neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. Shook specializes in neuromuscular disorders such as Parkinson’s, muscular dystrophy, myasthenia gravis, spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), and amyloid lateral sclerosis (ALS), and in polyneuropathy. Click here to read the rest of the story

Published by: Spectrum
Written by: Laura Dattaro

When the coronavirus pandemic first forced universities and labs to close, research teams raced to save their work and adjust to a socially distant world. Now, weeks into the crisis, many scientists are moving their investigations to virtual and online formats, a shift that may bring lasting changes to autism research.

Some researchers are adapting existing studies to the new realities. Others are initiating entirely new projects that can be conducted remotely, including some related to the pandemic.

Antonio Hardan’s team switched gears after closing a laboratory preschool that serves autistic children and suspending at-home therapy visits. Hardan, professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University in California, seized the opportunity to launch a previously planned study. The study is intended to evaluate the effectiveness of remotely training parents to use a therapy called pivotal response treatment (PRT), which helps minimally verbal autistic children communicate¹.

The team had been running a small uncontrolled trial on remote PRT for the previous two years. In August, Hardan and his collaborator, Grace Gengoux, received institutional review board approval to conduct a larger, controlled trial. Click here to read the rest of the story.