Clinicians can use play to deliver therapies that could improve a child’s social skills, language and certain cognitive capacities.

Mutations in a gene called POGZ lead to a constellation of traits, including a small head, developmental delay and, often, autism.

Mice missing a gene called PTCHD1 in a deep-seated brain structure have autism-like symptoms that ease with treatment.

A third strain of mice carrying an autism-linked mutation captures the nuances of this structural mutation in people.

Children who have both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism receive their autism diagnosis an average of four years later than those who have autism alone.

Early disruption of the microbes that inhabit the gut can alter a mouse’s sociability long term.

The same autism-linked mutation can lead to dramatically different behaviors in rats and mice.

Half of children who have autism have trouble falling or staying asleep, which may make their symptoms worse. Scientists are just beginning to explore what goes wrong in the midnight hour.

Risperidone can ease irritability in people with autism, but has no effect on repetitive behaviors, social impairments or communication deficits, according to a study published 19 November.

Experimental drugs can reverse the effects of some autism-linked mutations in the dopamine transporter, a protein that shuttles the chemical messenger dopamine into neurons. Researchers presented the unpublished findings in five posters yesterday at the 2014 Society for Neuroscience annual meeting in Washington, D.C.