The National Institutes of Health is reviving a defunct study that aimed to identify environmental risk factors for autism and other childhood disorders. Some researchers say the do-over is unlikely to live up to the original project’s promise.

A questionnaire that clinicians can administer in 20 minutes, either in person, by phone or online, correctly distinguishes children with autism from those without the disorder 86 percent of the time.

A widely cited 2011 study that pegged autism prevalence in South Korea at a whopping 2.6 percent is inherently flawed because of the assumptions the researchers had to make, suggests a new analysis of the data. The findings have implications for estimates of autism prevalence anywhere in the world.

Contrary to previous findings, children born by cesarean section are not at an increased risk of autism, says a Swedish sibling study.

Women who are overweight while pregnant have an increased risk of having a child with autism. But a new study suggests that genetics, not the obesity per se, underlies the association.

California might make vaccines mandatory, and religious figures may weigh in on the genetic engineering of embryos.

Older women and men are at high risk of having a child with autism — and so are teenage girls and parents whose age differs by at least a decade, according to a multinational study of more than 5 million children.

Autism is undoubtedly on the rise, but we may never be able to fully explain why, says Maureen Durkin.
 

Children whose older sisters are on the spectrum are at higher risk for autism than are those with affected older brothers, a new study suggests. Younger brothers of children with autism are at greater risk than younger sisters.

The world’s most populous country takes stock of autism, and guinea pigs ease anxiety in children with the disorder.