Raphael Bernier is professor of psychiatry at the University of Washington and clinical director of the Seattle Children’s Autism Center.
Raphael Bernier
Assistant Professor
University of Washington, Seattle
From this contributor
Through play, children with autism can hone thinking skills
Clinicians can use play to deliver therapies that could improve a child’s social skills, language and certain cognitive capacities.
Through play, children with autism can hone thinking skills
By
Raphael Bernier
31 May 2016 | 6 min read
Best practices
Guidelines for the use of electroencephalography in autism will ensure that researchers have a common set of standards, which will speed up discovery, say Sara Jane Webb and Raphael Bernier.
How do we measure autism severity?
Accurately measuring the severity of autism remains a challenge for the field. The answer may lie in using more than one approach that varies depending on whether it is being applied in a clinical or research context, says Raphael Bernier.
Explore more from The Transmitter
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.
Emotion research has a communication conundrum
In 2025, the words we use to describe emotions matter, but their definitions are controversial. Here, I unpack the different positions in this space and the rationales behind them—and I invite 13 experts to chime in.
By
Nicole Rust
5 September 2025 | 37 min listen
Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.
Autism-linked copy number variants always boost autism likelihood
By contrast, varied doses of the same genes decrease or increase the odds of five other conditions, with distinct biological consequences, two new preprints show.
By
Natalia Mesa
4 September 2025 | 7 min listen
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.
Everything everywhere all at once: Decision-making signals engage entire brain
The findings, gleaned from the most comprehensive map yet of brain activity during decision-making in mice, show that the process is even more distributed than previously thought.
By
Claudia López Lloreda
3 September 2025 | 5 min read