The Transmitter stories – Details, episodes & analysis

Jonathan Green is professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University of Manchester in the United Kingdom and an honorary consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist. He is also a long-practicing clinician. In this interview, he discusses the genesis of his recent article, “Debate: Neurodiversity, autism and healthcare,” and how it has been received by colleagues and the neurodiversity self-advocate community. There have been two commentaries published in response to Green’s article, with a third still in production.

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.

Virtual reality can help typical people experience sensory hypersensitivity and other perceptual differences that autistic individuals describe. Host Ben Kuebrich reports.

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.

Suicidal thoughts appear to be more common in autistic people but they’re also more difficult to detect. Host Ben Kuebrich reports.

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

In this episode of “Spectrum Stories,” host Jacob Brogan explains how speech — from its rhythm to its emotional content — can differ in people with autism, making social communication difficult.

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

In this episode, host Jacob Brogan explores how and why some women try to hide their autism. There are benefits to keeping the condition concealed, but this camouflaging comes with psychological costs.

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.