Gaps in Current Autism Research: The Thoughts of the Autism Research Editorial Board and Associate Editors.
Top autism editors say heterogeneity and sociocultural factors are still ignored—use their list to pick fundable research questions.
01Research in Context
What this study did
The editors of the journal Autism asked every board member one question. What is missing from autism research?
They turned the answers into short notes. The notes form a world-wide wish list of gaps.
What they found
Two gaps showed up again and again. First, autism is not one thing. Studies still lump different kids together.
Second, culture, race, and income are barely studied. Most samples come from rich, white families.
How this fits with other research
Arwert et al. (2020) widens the same gap list. COVID-19 froze labs and stopped trials. The 2020 paper says the pandemic made every 2019 gap bigger.
Waterhouse (2022) gives a fix for the heterogeneity gap. It tells teams to stop using "autism" as a single label. Instead, track small traits that cross diagnoses.
Cummings et al. (2024) narrows another 2019 gap. It shows how to build surveys that autistic people can answer themselves. Better surveys mean better outcomes.
Evenhuis (1996) is an older roadmap. It already asked for genetics, services, and good measures. The 2019 list shows many 1996 wishes are still open.
Why it matters
Use this paper when you write your next grant or choose a thesis. Pick a topic the editors say is missing. Study girls, minorities, or adults. Measure traits, not just the autism label. You will fill a real gap and boost your odds of funding.
Want CEUs on This Topic?
The ABA Clubhouse has 60+ free CEUs — live every Wednesday. Ethics, supervision & clinical topics.
Join Free →Open the article, pick one gap that matches your client population, and add it to your next IRB proposal.
02At a glance
03Original abstract
In advance of the 2019 INSAR Conference in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, I asked the members of the Autism Research Editorial Board and the Associate Editors to write short (approximately 300 word) mini-commentaries on what they considered to be the current gaps in research on autism spectrum disorder.The responses and styles were diverse and reflect research gaps ranging from basic biology to treatment trials to services for transition to adulthood.They reflect thoughts from countries around the world.While each of the contributions was done entirely independently, it is interesting how the theme of heterogeneity is found in many of them.There is also increasing concern over the lack of research on socioeconomic and cultural factors related to the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorder.We hope that these comments will provide food for thought.I would like to thank the staff at Wiley, Ms. Christine (Chrissy) Murray and Victoria Scheibe for valuable help in producing this Commentary.
Autism research : official journal of the International Society for Autism Research, 2019 · doi:10.1002/aur.2101