The Rett syndrome gene MeCP2 may subtly regulate the expression of genes across the genome by altering DNA structure.

Two studies published in the past month highlight the challenges in balancing the accuracy of autism diagnosis with cost-effectiveness and speed.

Growing up bilingual doesn’t impair language skills in children with autism, according to two studies in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

In a study of people missing an autism-linked region on chromosome 22, researchers have found that the larger the deletion, the more likely the individual is to have severe symptoms, from motor and speech delays to a large head and fleshy hands.

Many children with autism have a range of motor issues — such as head lag, floppy arms and difficulty sitting up — beginning in the first few months of life, according to an emerging body of work.

Adults with autism are more likely than controls to have certain chronic health conditions, such as high cholesterol, but are less likely to treat these with prescription drugs.

Postmortem brains from adults with autism have lower-than-normal levels of the fragile X mental retardation protein, which is missing in individuals with fragile X syndrome.

Autism prevalence is five times higher in young adults born weighing 2,000 grams or less compared with controls, according to a study published 17 October in Pediatrics.

A well-studied mouse model of autism has a smaller-than-normal volume in several autism-associated brain regions.

A five-minute online questionnaire can diagnose autism with as much accuracy as the so-called gold standard diagnostic tests, according to unpublished findings presented Tuesday at the Autism Consortium 2011 symposium in Boston.