We check in with the community about building more efficient bridges between families affected by autism and the scientists seeking its cure.

A handful of long-term studies, each including up to several hundred participants, have followed people with autism for close to two decades. As the children in some of these studies come of age, researchers are piecing together the disorder’s trajectories.

Most parents educate themselves as much as possible when their child is diagnosed with a disorder. A handful of others — in many cases, mothers — have devoted their professional lives to research on autism-related disorders.

Defects in cholesterol metabolism may influence the severity of Rett syndrome, suggesting a treatment for the autism-related disorder, according to research presented Thursday at the 2013 International Meeting for Autism Research in San Sebastián, Spain.

An intervention designed to help infants at high risk for autism also improves interactions between parents and their children, says a study published 27 March in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Researchers have added two new candidates to the arsenal of compounds that alleviate both the behavioral and molecular hallmarks of fragile X syndrome in mice that model the disorder. A third candidate, minocycline, improves some symptoms in children with the disorder.

A century-old drug created to treat African sleeping sickness reverses several autism-like features in a mouse model of the disorder, according to a study published 13 March in PLoS ONE.

Long-term treatment with risperidone — an antipsychotic approved to treat autism — may boost levels of prolactin, a hormone that stimulates milk production, according to a study published in December in the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Risperidone use may also affect sexual function and lead to enlarged breasts in males, the study found.

A handful of studies point to dietary deficiencies as a contributing factor in some forms of autism, suggesting that supplements — such as carnitine or certain amino acids — may help treat and even prevent the disorder.

Riding horses may help children with autism learn to trust others, says a study published 1 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.