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Special Reports Curated collections of articles on special topics in autism.
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Autism and the coronavirus pandemic

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lone researcher confronts the giant coronavirus from within the pillars of a crumbling institution
Previous Special Reports

2019: Year in review

Take a look back at the year’s notable papers and hot topics in autism research, plus Spectrum’s standout stories and quotes.

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researchers are measuring a big lego brain

Special Report: Lessons from other fields

Autism is a chameleon: What it looks like changes from one person to the next. Individual differences crop up both in its core features and in the conditions that often accompany it: depression, epilepsy, anxiety and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Autism also travels with a number of rare conditions rooted in a single gene. Autism’s […]

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Theories of autism

No one knows exactly what lies at the root of autism — but that hasn’t stopped scientists from speculating.

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Mother and daughter look to their right. Photos are in the background, along with a wall clock.

Genetic testing for autism

How clinical genetics is giving families long-sought answers and transforming autism care.

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Footprints form the shape of

2018: Year in Review

Take a look back at the year’s hot topics, notable papers and top Spectrum stories, plus innovative programs and artists changing how we view autism.

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Illustration of a row of transparent heads in profile--we can see different colors in the brain areas.

Autism 101

How is autism diagnosed? What explains the rise in autism’s prevalence? How much do genes contribute to the condition? What about the environment? This section provides answers to these and other questions.

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The DSM-5’s take on autism:
Five years on

It’s been five years since the autism community agonized over the debut of a new iteration of a diagnostic manual that set out to rewrite the definition of autism.

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Social communication on the spectrum

Problems with verbal and nonverbal communication — such as prosody, grammar, facial expressions and eye contact — contribute to the social difficulties individuals on the spectrum experience.

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Spotlight on mouse models of autism

Mice of myriad strains and designs have helped scientists understand autism, but they have limitations as autism models. This report describes what scientists can hope to learn from old and new mouse models of autism.

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Where autism and attention deficit meet

Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder often co-occur. Researchers are examining when and why these conditions may overlap.

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