Children whose parents have a condition such as autism tend to have severe restricted interests and repetitive behaviors, even if they don’t have a diagnosis themselves.

Researchers have engineered two new rats with mutations in a family of genes that function at neuronal junctions, they reported today at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta.

Girls who show severe emotional or behavioral problems are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than those who do not.

Children with autism show an increase in restricted interests in their preteen years that is not seen in those with fragile X syndrome.

About one in four children with autism hit, scratch or otherwise hurt themselves, suggests an analysis of school and medical records for more than 8,000 children.

Monkeys with multiple copies of the gene MeCP2 have irregular brain waves similar to those seen in some children with autism.