Congress is currently considering a piece of legislation that would effectively sever all scientific ties between the US and China. Unbelievable. You can read the AAU response here: www.aau.edu/key-issues/a...

“The rewriting of CDC’s guidance is not a routine update. It is a warning. If scientific consensus can be erased with a keystroke & replaced with politically curated doubt, institutions meant to safeguard national health are at risk.“ By @drdebhoury.bsky.social @drdemetre.bsky.social & Dan Jernigan

Origins of language, one of humanity’s most distinctive traits, may be best explained as a unique convergence of multiple capacities each with its own evolutionary history, involving intertwined roles of biology & culture. This framing can expand research horizons. A 🧵 on our @science.org paper.🧪1/n

The Coalition of Autism Scientists does not support new information published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control on November 19, 2025 linking vaccination and autism as it is misleading and not evidence-based.

Agree, but I think it goes beyond sunk costs - there's something about autism that is a magnet for research on hot topics - the hot topic being one where you can always find *something* and which sounds exciting. In this case microbiome. I reckon the life cycle of these things is at least 25 years.

lots of invigorating discussion this year at #BUCLD2025. Unsurprisingly, LLMs as models & as tools made many appearances w/a wide range of views/claims/caveats ab what they can(not) tell us ab language development I'm still chewing on a few things that seemed to get short shrift 1/4 🐦🐦

hopeless autism study still up in J Pers Med despite promise to retract it www.medpagetoday.com/opinion/seco... This is how @mdpiopenaccess.bsky.social pollutes the literature with junk

If you're interested in how advances in human genomics are transforming our understanding of the biology of spoken & written language abilities, please do check out my new peer-reviewed "tutorial" article, just published. 🗣️🧬🧪 [Will also make a Bsky explainer 🧵 on it next week when I get some time🙂.]

Conversational turn-taking feels effortless, but it's a complex dance. We find social context—who you're talking to and what you're talking about—fundamentally changes conversational dynamics in both autistic & TD children. 1/ onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/... w @chrismmcox.bsky.social

Happy with this popular science article about our work (with @lindadrijvers.bsky.social and @judithholler.bsky.social), showing that listeners use co-speech hand gestures to predict upcoming meaning ✋ www.medscape.com/viewarticle/...

New paper alert! Rare DNA changes in the SETBP1 gene are linked to speech problems & diverse syndromes affecting brain development. Work led by ace postdoc @maggiemkwong.bsky.social uncovered impact of different gene variants, coupling clinical/speech evaluation to molecular & cellular readouts.🧬🗣️🔬🧪

A rewarding start to my day!

Tylenol maker Kenvue is reeling after unsupported claims that its popular drug causes autism. Kennedy is unlikely to stop there.

Baccarelli was paid $700/hour for his work on a case against Tylenol. I will charge $0/hour to tell courts, FDA, and everyone else that correlations can arise from latent variables in the absence of a direct causal relationship. www.thecrimson.com/article/2025...

Gift article for any uniformed friends or family: experts overwhelmingly agree that the apparent increase in autism in USA is due to broader inclusion criteria and diagnoses. It is NOT caused by tylenol or vaccines www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/o...

Nice to see organizations like the @autismsciencefd.bsky.social and @defendpublichealth.bsky.social getting ahead of these potential forthcoming claims in RFK Jr.'s eventual autism report. More of this needed and in other forums too. 🛟😷🧪 sociology Here's Autism Science Foundation's statement...

How Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.,’s Anti-Vax Agenda Is Infecting America

Each Friday, I write up the impacts to science 🧪& higher ed. This was Week 32: + Chaos & courage as CDC Director Monarez fired & 4 top leaders resign + FDA limits COVID vax eligibility, pharmacies restricting access + pocket rescission, sad research shut downs & more buttondown.com/liminalcreat...

I have initial confirmation of a CDC walkout happening - will be looking for news coverage & more details.

www.propublica.org/article/rfk-... Excellent and disturbing article. Pleased to have contributed some background.

Developmental stuttering involves speech disfluencies (blocks, prolongations, repetitions). We sequenced all protein-coding genes of 85 parent-child trios in which the child stuttered, & found (likely) pathogenic DNA variants in 4 genes also implicated in neurodevelopmental disorders. New paper:👇🗣️🧬🧪

Really amazing work that challenges some long-held beliefs about cortical plasticity. "We show adult sensory body maps are unaltered after amputation, suggesting deprivation-driven plasticity is even more marginal than argued by the strongest opponents of cortical reorganization."

Interesting critique

Please sign! Science funding got strong support from the Senate but is now in the House! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

A letter signed by thoysands of members of the National Academies but also open for community endorsement . Please sign! docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

Excited to co-host this workshop! Lots of great speakers and opportunities to learn about best practices for fNIRS research with autistic children

We're taking major steps back in #publichealth and instead of addressing the important issues we're creating more distractions. #SDOH Why are American kids getting sicker? www.vox.com/life/421703/... by @annanorth.bsky.social via @vox.com CC: @laurenwisk.bsky.social @htagerf.bsky.social

Ousted members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices describe RFK Jr.’s first meeting—featuring anti-vaccine presenters pushing unfounded claims. They now call for the creation of an independent vaccine panel outside the federal government. zurl.co/x2itL

Huge congratulations to the brilliant Nora Newcombe, recipient of the 2025 David E. Rumelhart Prize! 🏅#CogSci2025

Notes from @noranewcombe.bsky.social 's beautiful Rumelhart Prize "tasting menu" - congratulations Nora!!! #CogSci2025

Delighted to share Resources for Researchers webpage has received a 2025 Commendation from @improvingpsych.org! We look forward to continuing this work to help everyone navigate academia and help academia be more welcoming to everyone! www.plasticityinneurodevelopmentlab.com/resourcesfor...

What we heard this week 🧵 #Medsky "I think the NIH director understands that if you would say 'whenever possible,' that's the end. That's the kiss of death." -- @htagerf.bsky.social, of @bostonu.bsky.social, discussing patient privacy in federal #autism research. www.medpagetoday.com/neurology/au...

How children master language in early life is one of the central questions of human biology. My fab colleague & friend @carorowland.bsky.social has an important new framework paper, which she breaks down in this fascinating thread. Big implications for how we think about genetic contributions too.👇🧪

Breaking news: The NIH yesterday moved to reinstate about 900 grants that a judge last week ruled had been canceled illegally because their topics, ranging from vaccine hesitancy or promoting diversity in the scientific workforce, had been blacklisted by the Trump administration. scim.ag/4lq9UrQ

"Language is unique among communication systems, many elements are learned & transmitted across generations. Investigating directed & surrounding vocal communication in human infants & infants of wild nonhuman great apes revealed that humans receive dramatically more infant-directed communication."🧪

www.nytimes.com/2025/06/25/s... Lovely article!

Few are telling this trainwreck's tale with as much rigor and passion as @anniewaldman.bsky.social‬ @ #ProPublica. "[Trump] ...has terminated more than 1,450 [#NIH] grants withholding more than $750 million in funds." Read the full piece zurl.co/fCpUU#ProPublica#NIH join us to fight back. #StandUpForScience

"...the workers behind the letter said grants are being terminated based on political preferences and without input from scientific staff or Congress, which amounts to censorship of critical research." zurl.co/zEzKM #StandUpForScience #BethesdaDeclaration

What does 18,000+ brave signatories look like standing together in massive solidarity with the #NIH heroes of the historic Bethesda Declaration??... Find out by adding YOUR NAME to our #NIHLove letter here! - actionnetwork.org/forms/add-na... #StandUpForScience #BethesdaDeclaration #StopTrump

"It's a horror show. We're under attack in every way all the time," says Sarah Kobrin, who has worked at the National Cancer Institute for more than 21 years. "We're told we're worthless. We're told we're cheats.… They're breaking things that won't be repairable." www.npr.org/sections/sho...

Exciting new game! Who wants to play? publishorperish.games

Our work on speech timing & white matter organization in autistic and non-autistic children is out in JSHLR. Thankful for the research team on this project! @jenniferzuk.bsky.social @talialiu.bsky.social @neurotyler.bsky.social @htagerf.bsky.social @qzhever.bsky.social pubs.asha.org/doi/10.1044/...

🆓🔓in @ashajournals.bsky.social Davison, K. E., Liu, T., Belisle, R. M., Perrachione, T. K., Qi, Z., Gabrieli, J. D. E., @htagerf.bsky.social, & Zuk, J. (2025). Right-Hemispheric White Matter Organization is Associated with Speech Timing in #Autistic Chn JSLHR doi.org/10.1044/2025... 🦋 #bskySPEECHIES

Science is under siege. Join us in adding your name to our open letter condemning Trump’s escalated assault on science in America. #StandUpForScience actionnetwork.org/petitions/op...

Congratulations @noranewcombe.bsky.social !

💰🔐 In @ashajournals.bsky.social Maffei, M. F., Chenausky, K. V., @htagerf.bsky.social, & Green, J. R. (2025). An Acoustic Analysis of Speech Motor Performance in #Autistic Children. JSLHR, 1–23. doi.org/10.1044/2025... 🦋 #bskySPEECHIES #ChildSpeechDis #autism #slpeeps

Very sorry to learn of the passing of LouAnn Gerken, who had such an impact on our understanding of the acquisition of speech sounds and sound patterns obits.mlive.com/us/obituarie...

There's no bigger priority for JFK Jr than autism, and yet NIH funding for autism research is down 26% since the beginning of the year. Why? Research on diverse populations has been defunded in the anti-DEI and 'gender ideology' purge. Reuters exclusive www.reuters.com/business/hea...

"Language-related neural specialisation in humans likely evolved through gradual strengthening of a pre-existing connection rather than arising de novo." Important conclusion from state-of-the-art neuroimaging in wild & captive chimpanzees by @ybecker.bsky.social, @alfredanwander.bsky.social & co.👇🧪