Applied behavior analysis is the most widely used therapy for autistic children in the United States, but some regions lack the staff needed to provide it.

Motor and memory training early in life postpones the onset of difficulties in those areas in a mouse model of Rett syndrome, and stimulating neurons involved in those skills appears to mimic the effects of training.

To guard against hype, scientists studying oxytocin’s role in autism and its potential as a treatment need to embrace robust theories, rigorous delivery methods and reproducible research practices.

Cara Westmark has spent the past year building the case that a drug designed for fragile X syndrome might help coronavirus patients, too.

Some therapies use play and other activities to reinforce skills that autistic children often find challenging. Trials show these methods can change a child’s trajectory for the better, but the evidence base remains thin.

A new approach for delivering gene therapy to the brain reduces nerve damage in primates and could help make gene therapies for conditions related to autism safer.

Treatments for Rett syndrome that aim to boost levels of the protein MECP2 may not help everyone with the condition.

Mutations in the autism-linked gene ASH1L change how neurons grow and develop.

Intranasal oxytocin may spur new neuron growth and changes in social behavior after a few weeks.

Our staff picks the stories, podcasts and special reports that stood out from the rest this past year.