Since the DSM-5’s debut, schoolchildren have gained stronger legal rights and better opportunities for accessing services; for adults, it’s a different story.

The move to replace ‘mental retardation’ with ‘intellectual disability’ is widely accepted, but little data exist on the impact of this change.

Our concept of autism has evolved over the past 20 years, rendering redundant the diagnostic labels of Asperger syndrome and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified.

A new law’s increased protections on privacy are likely to make research projects involving big data less efficient, more complex and more difficult to reproduce.

The annual meeting of International Society for Autism Research has aligned its offerings with the priorities of people with autism and their families.

We must diversify databases of reference DNA to improve our ability to interpret the consequences of genetic variation.

A large dataset that catalogs the features of many brain conditions could transform the quest for biomarkers of autism.

Some individuals who have autism mutations show no signs of the condition; understanding why may lead to treatments.

Researchers can convert the distinct genetic backgrounds of lab mice from a problem to an advantage, exploiting the differences to advance our understanding of autism.

Researchers have developed behavioral measures that can accurately diagnose autism in people; these lessons can and should be applied to mice.