MAKE A STAND 4 AUTISM

05/08/2026

Wow! HUGE!!

“Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a heterogeneous neurodevelopmental condition increasingly linked to disturbances in immune signaling and neuroimmune cross-talk. This PRISMA-ScR–guided scoping review synthesizes contemporary evidence to propose a structured immunological classification of ASD comprising six immune-related subtypes: immune overactivation, immune deficiency, autoimmunity-linked ASD, gut–immune axis dysregulation, post-infectious or immune-triggered onset patterns, and maternal immune activation.”

05/07/2026

“This ain’t my first rodeo!” 🤠

Help MAKE A STAND 4 AUTISM and get yourself some cute merch! 💗 {link below}

https://www.makeastand4autism.org/merch

05/05/2026

“Which brings me back to the meeting last week in Bethesda, Maryland, where a federal autism committee took the boldest action that it’s taken in its 25-year history, putting people with autism and their families at the forefront of driving recommendations for federal government programs for the first time.”

“The restructured IACC is charting a new course toward meaningful research and a more hopeful future for all people with autism.”

Just as I was getting excited by the work of a federal autism committee, I came across a sloppy Opinion piece, published in The New York Times.

05/04/2026

“There is a reality that is often acknowledged quietly but not often confronted directly: Many autistic individuals live with significant, and sometimes severe, medical conditions. Not secondary issues. Central ones. Chronic gastrointestinal disease. Immune dysregulation. Severe sleep disruption. Allergies. Anxiety with clear physiological components.

For many individuals, these are not peripheral concerns. They shape daily life. Ignoring these conditions in the name of reframing autism does not make them disappear. It leaves them unaddressed.”

The Autism Research Institute has remained committed to a principle that is often easier to state than to follow: follow the biology.

05/02/2026

MAKE A STAND 4 AUTISM Founder, Jennifer Philips, provides opening remarks at this week's federal IACC meeting:

04/29/2026

We walked away with a majority vote 5+ times over on some very urgent and overdue matters for the autism community.

That is a clear message that speaks for itself.

04/24/2026

"I am not just a witness to this struggle; I am the successor to it."

A powerful public statement from an autism sibling prior to the federal IACC meeting next week.

The siblings KNOW.

04/22/2026

More great moments from our recent partnership with the Frisco RoughRiders baseball team! ⚾️

04/21/2026

"Various mechanisms for developmental regression have been proposed, including potential associations with pro-inflammatory immune responses, family history of autoimmunity and conditions linked to activation of the inflammatory cascade, over-pruning of synapses during early brain development, deleterious effects of epileptiform discharges on cerebral function
and decompensation of marginal mitochondrial function after physiologic stress, among others."

"Gaining more insight into the etiology of regression is needed to elucidate the neurobiological mechanisms involved and facilitate precision health approaches."

Development among autistic youth varies widely. A subgroup of children experiences regression, defined as the loss of previously acquired developmental skills. Various genetic and environmental facto...

04/21/2026

Once regressive autism and profound autism have diagnostic distinctions, cause and treatment studies need to be retrospectively evaluated for significance within the confines of those distinctions.

04/20/2026

Food for thought! This a really well written article.

"The most relevant question is whether we will find treatments or prevention measures faster by doing genetics alone or by studying gene-environment interactions. We’ve been doing the former for at least 20 years now. It is not working."

“Every single genetic disease has at least one environmental factor driving it.” So why do we still separate genes and environment? A closer look at autism heritability.