Studying Autism and ADHD Risks in Siblings (STAARS)

[Birkbeck Babylab]

Calling all families with a baby under 11 months old and a parent or older-sibling with a ASD diagnosis or ADHD/hyperactivity traits!

We are recruiting for our STAARS study, if you are interested in knowing more please contact us at [email protected]

 

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Frequently Asked Questions | Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development

Babylab | Centre for Brain and Cognitive Development

 

[Autistamatic]

You do realise that a huge proportion of autistic people will be put off by the inclusion of the word "risk"

Don't misunderstand me - research into the heritability of neurodivergences is worthwhile. There's too many people out there coming up with loopy ideas about why we are who we are and many of those ideas are dangerous, but RISK? Seriously? Do you have any idea how disrespectful that one word is to the very people you want involved? Do you care? Would you think it acceptable to describe a study into the genetic components of sexual preference in such terms?

Obviously if you dropped the word "Risk" you'd have to find another word beginning with "R" to keep your snappy acronym, but you probably know already - we have an unhappy history with "R" words already.

Do a study into heritability and early identification, but stop using language which reinforces the destructive idea that autistic people are something to be scared of. The only risk involved is being treated like a problem needing to be fixed instead of a living being with their own way of functioning.