(1) Every day, people with functional diversity face different kinds of difficulties that pose a barrier to their social inclusion. These difficulties often go unnoticed by most citizens. Social networks are a powerful tool to sensitize the population. With this objective, different organizations such as associations, federations, foundations, and other institutions have promoted campaigns through the celebration of world days for different types of functional diversity. This research aims to monitor and analyze the impact of these social campaigns in Spain, including Asperger's syndrome, rare diseases, Down syndrome, autism, hearing and visual impairment, cerebral palsy, dyslexia, ADHD, spina bifida, disability, and dyscalculia world days, between 2015 and 2020. (2) The impact of each campaign on the press, Google, and Twitter has been analyzed using: MyNews, Google Trends, and Trendinalia. (3) The results suggest a close relationship between the impact on the number of pieces of news generated in the press, the searches on Google, and the hashtags in high positions on Twitter. (4) The campaigns with the greatest levels of success are those whose diagnoses involve greater difficulties in adaptive behavior. These results can provide some practical implications for future campaigns.

This study explored (i) differences in age at Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) diagnosis between children with and without a migrant background in the main diagnostic centre for ASD in Upper Austria (ii) factors related to the age at diagnosis and (iii) whether specific factors differed between the two groups. A retrospective chart analysis included all children who received their first diagnosis before the age of 10 years (n = 211) between 2013 and 2018. Children with a migrant background were diagnosed 13 months earlier than those without (r = 0.278, p < 0.001), and had more severe delays in language, more severe autism, no Asperger's syndrome, lower parental educational level and more frequent referrals by paediatricians. For the total sample, expressive language delay, severity of restricted and repetitive behaviours, higher nonverbal development, and paediatric referrals explained earlier diagnoses. There was a stronger effect of parental education and weaker effect of language impairment on age at ASD diagnosis in children with a migrant background. In conclusion, no delay in diagnosing ASD in children with a migrant background in a country with universal health care and an established system of paediatric developmental surveillance was found. Awareness of ASD, including Asperger's syndrome, should be raised among families and healthcare professionals.

A substantial genetic component accounts for Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) aetiology, with some rare and common genetic risk factors recently identified. Large collections of DNAs from thoroughly characterized ASD families are an essential step to confirm genetic risk factors, identify new variants and investigate genotype-phenotype correlations. The Italian Autism Network aimed at constituting a clinical database and a biorepository of samples derived from ASD subjects and first-degree relatives extensively and consistently characterized by child psychiatry centers in Italy. The study was approved by the ethical committee of the University of Verona, the coordinating site, and by the local ethical committees of each recruiting site. Certified staff was specifically trained at each site for the overall study conduct, for clinical protocol administration and handling of biological material. A centralized database was developed to collect clinical assessment and medical records from each recruiting site. Children were eligible for recruitment based on the following inclusion criteria: age 4-18 years, at least one parent or legal guardian giving voluntary written consent, meeting DSM-IV criteria for Autistic Disorder or Asperger's Disorder or Pervasive Developmental Disorder NOS. Affected individuals were assessed by full psychiatric, neurological and physical examination, evaluation with ADI-R and ADOS scales, cognitive assessment with Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children or Preschool and Primary, Leiter International Performance Scale or Griffiths Mental Developmental Scale. Additional evaluations included language assessment, the Krug Asperger's Disorder Index, and instrumental examination such as EEG and structural MRI. DNA, RNA and plasma were collected from eligible individuals and relatives. A central laboratory was established to host the biorepository, perform DNA and RNA extraction and lymphocytes immortalisation. The study has led to an extensive collection of biological samples associated with standardised clinical assessments from a network of expert clinicians and psychologists. Eighteen sites have received ADI/ADOS training, thirteen of which have been actively recruiting. The clinical database currently includes information on 812 individuals from 249 families, and the biorepository has samples for 98% of the subjects. This effort has generated a highly valuable resource for conducting clinical and genetic research of ASD, amenable to further expansion.

Genetic research in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is mainly performed in minors who are legally unable to provide consent. Thus, knowledge of the attitudes, fears, and expectations toward genetic research of the parents is important. Knowledge of the attitudes toward genetic research will improve cooperation between researchers and participants, and help establish confidence in ASD genetic research. The present study aimed to assess these attitudes. Questionnaire-based assessments of attitudes toward genetic research and toward procedures in genetic research of n=1455 parents of individuals with ASD were performed. The main motivation for participation in genetic research is to gain more knowledge of the causes and disease mechanisms of ASD (83.6%), and to contribute toward development of improved treatment in the future (63.7%). The parents also had a positive attitude towards storing genetic information (54.3%) and they requested confidentiality of data (82.9%) and expressed a need to be informed about the purpose (89%) and progress of the research (83.7%). We found a slightly more positive attitude to participation in genetic research among older parents (P=0.015), among fathers compared with mothers (P=0.01), among parents of girls compared with boys (P=0.03), and infantile autism compared with Asperger syndrome (P=0.002). However, linear regression analysis showed that parent and child characteristics seem to have too small an influence on attitudes toward genetic research to be of any relevance (R(2)=0.002-0.02). Parents of children with ASD have, in general, a very positive attitude toward genetic research. Data confidentiality is important, and they express a need for information on the purpose and progress of the research.