About one in three children with autism abruptly lose language, social or other developmental skills in their second year of life, according to a meta-analysis published 2 August in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

New analysis of an in-depth study of autism rates in Utah in the 1980s highlights how changing diagnostic guidelines may be contributing to the rise in prevalence.

Children with autism are being incorrectly diagnosed with developmental delay, and Hispanic children with developmental delay are going undiagnosed, according to a study in California.

Parents of minority children with autism are more likely to report that their children have poor quality of care than are parents of minority children with other developmental disabilities.

With every passing year, men are increasingly likely to transmit new mutations to their children, according to the largest study yet of the so-called paternal age effect, published yesterday in Nature. The findings could help explain why older men are more likely to have a child with autism or schizophrenia than are younger men, the researchers say.

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.

Child psychiatrist and epidemiologist Eric Fombonne digs through the latest report on the prevalence of autism, suggesting reasons for the apparent increase in the disorder’s rates. 

Do rising rates of autism point to a true increase in prevalence or simply reflect a growing awareness and thus diagnosis of the disorder?

A new report from the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention finds that autism rates have risen 23 percent since 2009, from 1 in 110 children to 1 in 88.