Individuals who have multiple children with autism have more severe social and communication deficits than either controls or those who have only one child with autism.

Mice lacking the autism-linked gene CNTNAP2 show many of the behaviors associated with the disorder, and exhibit brain circuit disruptions similar to those seen in people who carry mutations in the gene.

A new study of nearly 6,000 pairs of twins suggests that the three core traits of autism are inherited separately, and to varying degrees, both in individuals with autism and in the general population.

Researchers have optimized an early social screening questionnaire to distinguish autism from other developmental disabilities in preschool-aged children.

The six diagnostic measures used to distinguish Asperger syndrome from high-functioning autism do not identify a unique subset of people, according to an analysis of 69 studies, published 2 August in Autism.

Impairments in vision, even if they don’t cause autism, are likely to be manifestations of underlying neural abnormalities, says Pawan Sinha, professor of vision and founder of the humanitarian organization Project Prakash.  

Contrary to popular assumption, people diagnosed with so-called mild forms of autism don’t fare any better in life than those with severe forms of the disorder. That’s the conclusion of a new study that suggests that even individuals with normal intelligence and language abilities struggle to fit into society because of their social and communication problems.

Two autism-associated genes that function at the synapse, the junction between neurons, are associated with severe intellectual disability, according to a study published 9 August in BMC Medical Genetics.

The handful of studies of autism in Africa suggest that only the most severely affected children are seen in clinics.

Collapsing the three core domains of autism — impairments in social interaction, communication deficits, and repetitive and restricted behaviors — into two makes no difference in the accuracy of diagnosis, according to a statistical analysis published 20 August in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.