Translating Autism Frequently Asked Questions

Who are you?
I’m Nestor Lopez-Duran Ph.D., a clinical psychologist and neuroscience researcher working at a university-based child psychiatric institute in the mid west. You can see my full public profile here

Can we trust the information posted on this site?
I do not provide “expert” advice. I only provide a summary and commentary of the latest scientific studies already published and available to the scientific community. You can trust the information on this site as much as you can trust science. HOWEVER, there is something about how science works that you must understand. The results of any single research study should be interpreted in the context of the larger scientific literature on the topic. For example, one particular study may show that there is no link between some specific factor and autism, except that 50 other studies have actually shown that YES there is a link. In this case, the consensus is that the link exists, even though one study failed to find the link. How does this affect how you should read this website? You should not use the results of any particular study to make decisions that affect your child. Only your health care professional can help you make those decisions and provide solid medical advice. The information in this blog should not be considered medical advice. Thus, you should consider this website only as a tool to help you get more familiar with the scientific literature so that you can have more effective interactions with your health care professional and make better informed decisions.

Are you an autism specialist?
Although I am a clinical psychologist with clinical training in neuropsychology and have many years of experience conducting assessments with children with ASD, my own research is not focused on ASD and thus I can not ethically consider myself an autism specialist. However, I see my relative 'outsider' status to be an asset to this blog and the entire Translating Research Project. The fact that I'm a non-autism specialist yet a trained scientist in neurocognitive behavioral disorders allows me to present the scientific literature without the need to, or expectation of, taking advocacy positions for one particular hypothesis or another. Thus, the intention of this new blog is not to provide clinical or expert "advice" or to advocate for a single theoretical perspective. In this blog I simply read latest findings published on peer-reviewed journals and summarize and translate these findings into content that is useful to parents, educators, and other clinicians. I provide as little commentary as possible to avoid distracting the reader from the scientific findings themselves, and I provide all the necessary information so that readers who want to find the scientific articles directly can request them at their local library.

What is the Translating Research Project?
The Translating Research Project is a grassroots initiative designed to disseminate scientific findings in childhood onset disorders in a format that is useful and accessible to parents, educators and clinicians. Translating Autism is the first blog of this initiative.

Can you give me advice about my child?
No. I do not provide any clinical advice online. It would be unethical and in some States illegal to do so. I highly recommend that you contact a local child psychologist, pediatric neurospychologist, or pediatric neurologist to obtain expert clinical services in your area. Your pediatrician should be able to provide you with a referral. The University of Michigan Autism Center also keeps a referral list of clinicians trained to administered the ADOS. Please contact them here: http://www.umaccweb.com/

Will you review all autism scientific studies that are published?
Unfortunately no. First, the intention of this site is to disseminate the “latest” scientific findings. As you see from the date of the sources, I only began summarizing articles published after November of 2007. I also have some editorial control over this blog and skip some newly published articles that may not be as relevant to parents.

What is the "source" line that you add to your post?
This is the information that specifically indicates where the article (study) was published.