A tool designed to detect psychiatric disorders in people with autism may produce more accurate estimates of co-occurring conditions.

Individuals with Cornelia de Lange syndrome, a rare genetic disorder often accompanied by autism, have subtle differences in the nature of their social deficits compared with those who have autism alone, according to a report published 10 April in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry.

Two reviews sketch a road map for understanding and treating autism in low- and middle-income countries.

Studies of autism prevalence should screen a representative sample of all individuals in the population, even those with no indications of the disorder, says epidemiologist Young-Shin Kim.

A biological signature in the blood could be used to aid the early diagnosis of schizophrenia, according to a study published 12 April in Molecular Psychiatry. The results suggest that various circulating immune molecules and metabolites reflect the biological changes that underlie neurological disorders.

Parents searching for a genetic diagnosis for their child with autism now have a new option: a test that analyzes 62 different genes linked to syndromic autism, meaning cases of the disorder caused by mutation of a single gene.

Childhood disintegrative disorder represents a distinct entity within the autism spectrum and it should remain a separate diagnostic category, says Kevin Pelphrey.

A new analysis of proposed changes to the diagnostic criteria for autism suggests that the revision could exclude a substantial number of people with high-functioning autism. But critics say the study is fundamentally flawed.

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.

How easy it is to engage the attention of a child with autism by gazing or pointing at an object may predict how well he or she will be able to function as an adult, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.