Sherry Pagoto, PhD
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drsherrypagoto.bsky.social
Sherry Pagoto, PhD
@drsherrypagoto.bsky.social
Professor, psychologist, NIH-funded scientist. Digital health, social media, healthy lifestyle. Past prez @behavioralmed. Occasional writer about relationships and health.
And let me put it this way, as a psychologist, I have never met someone with ASD who didn’t have a family member (usually dad but not always) who had it too or had similar behaviors even if never diagnosed.
September 23, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Actually it’s largely genetic. Check this out: bsky.app/profile/drsh...
Meta-analysis of twin studies reveals autism is largely genetic. This was published 10 years ago, and yet here we are.

"We demonstrate that ASD is due to strong genetic effects. The meta‐analytic heritability estimates were substantial: 64–91%."

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC...
Heritability of autism spectrum disorders: a meta‐analysis of twin studies
The etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been recently debated due to emerging findings on the importance of shared environmental influences. However, two recent twin studies do not support ...
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
September 23, 2025 at 8:00 PM
Autism was only diagnosed in the 80's and 90's if it was severe, but then we got better at capturing less severe versions. So it seems like more people have autism but actually it is that we are catching more cases. A diagnosis is also necessary to qualify for services.
September 23, 2025 at 1:10 PM
Reposted by Sherry Pagoto, PhD
BREAKING: CDC's ACIP just voted 8-3 to change vaccine recomendation and stop recommending MMRV to children as their first dose.
September 18, 2025 at 9:26 PM
It definitely does! 😊
September 1, 2025 at 10:46 AM
So sorry you lost your best friend. 💔 It’s a grief we don’t hear much about but it is so very real.
August 30, 2025 at 11:38 AM
Thank you 😊 So true. A hundred million things.
August 29, 2025 at 9:51 AM
🤕😊
August 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
🤗
August 29, 2025 at 9:49 AM
🥰
August 29, 2025 at 12:51 AM
🥺
August 29, 2025 at 12:51 AM