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Autism Diagnoses More Than Tripled in 15 Years — Study
A study has found diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in New Zealand have more than tripled in 15 years. The Otago University researchers warn the country’s health and disability services will need to prepare for a continued growth in demand, as there’s no evidence the increase is slowing.
Published in The Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, the study is the first to examine autism diagnosis trends across New Zealand children and adults. Led by Associate Professor Ben Beaglehole from Otago’s Department of Psychological Medicine, the research analysed three national health and disability databases between 2009-23 and found a more-than-threefold increase.
More than 30,800 people with ASD were identified during the study period. By 2023, 1.3 percent of New Zealand children and 0.14 per cent of adults had an ASD diagnosis recorded in national databases, with increases recorded across all age groups, genders and ethnicities. Beaglehole said the findings reflected international trends.
How Does Prenatal Metal Exposure Influence Autism-Related Outcomes?
Research shows that exposure to metals has adverse impacts on prenatal neurodevelopment, but the association of this exposure with child autism spectrum disorder (ASD) remains uncertain. In a study published in Environmental Epidemiology, Debra A. Mackenzie, PhD, of the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, and colleagues analyzed the link between prenatal metal exposure and autism-related outcomes in 479 mother-child dyads from the Environmental Influences on Child Health Outcomes Cohort.
Measurements of metal exposure included prenatal blood (n=479) and urinary (n=482) metal concentrations. Autism-related outcomes were assessed using the Social Responsiveness Scale — Second Edition (SRS-2) total T-scores and SRS-2 subscale T-scores, as well as ASD diagnosis. Linear and logistic regression were used to analyze associations with individual metals.
Results showed a link between maternal blood lead and mercury and higher SRS-2 total T-scores (lead: β=0.11; mercury: β=0.19). In addition, maternal blood cadmium was associated with higher odds of ASD diagnosis (odds ratio, 2.42).
Meanwhile, the Bayesian Kernel Machine Regression was used to analyze associations with metal mixtures. This analysis revealed joint effects of blood metal mixtures, including arsenic, cadmium, mercury, and lead, on autism-related traits including social awareness and cognition.
Neural Noise May Hinder Communication in Autistic Children
Researchers from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, along with other institutions, have discovered that neural noise may be a key factor preventing some autistic children from communicating effectively. In a study published in the journal *Scientific Reports*, researchers examined brain patterns in over 300 children and adolescents as they listened to words.
They found that autistic children exhibited subtle differences in brain activity, akin to static, which interferes with communication. The study involved high-density electroencephalography (EEG) to track brain activity in participants aged 7 to 18, including 162 autistic youths and 144 typically developing peers.
The findings revealed that autistic participants showed altered patterns in their brain’s aperiodic signal, indicating increased neural noise. This noise seems to disrupt the brain’s ability to process speech efficiently, leading to communication challenges.
Little Evidence That Australia’s Under-16 Social Media Restrictions Have Curbed Use Among Adolescents
There is little evidence that Australia’s Social Media Minimum Age Act has led to any immediate reductions in social media use by under 16s, finds an early analysis of survey data published by The BMJ today. While the researchers acknowledge that legislative changes take time to show results, they argue that current platform age verification checks are inadequate and that many under 16s are actively bypassing these restrictions.
In response to growing concerns about the potential harm of social media use to adolescent health and wellbeing, governments internationally are considering or implementing age-based restrictions, but empirical evidence on their real-world effects is scarce.
In December 2025, Australia implemented a world-first national policy requiring specific social media platforms including Tiktok, X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat to take reasonable steps to prevent adolescents under 16 years of age from holding accounts.
