Dr Liezl Schlebusch, Dr Nola Chambers, Dr Sarosha Pillay and Dr Tigist Zeruhun were all authors on papers publised in this special issue. In their editorial regarding this special issue, Divan, Chiang, Villalobos, Bakare and Hoekstra noted that the papers "showcase the richness of autism research conducted across the globe. The interest in our special issue and the breadth of papers that made the final selection demonstrates that the centre of gravity of autism research is slowly shifting: global autism research is here and intends to stay." The special issue was dedicated to the memory of Dr Muideen Bakare of Nigeria who passed away unexpectedly just before publication.