Do genetic differences or diagnostic biases account for the gender imbalance in autism? Catherine Lord, David Skuse and Angelica Ronald weigh in.

About 1 in 68 children in the U.S. is diagnosed with autism, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, scientists from the organization reported Thursday.

Children living in low-income neighborhoods with high unemployment rates are more likely to be diagnosed with autism than are children who live in high-income communities, reports a large Swedish study published 26 February in the Journal of Psychiatric Research.

Two studies published in the past month lend support to the notion that autism looks different in girls than it does in boys, making it harder to recognize and diagnose in girls. The studies reflect growing suspicion in the research community that the underlying biology and the experiences of girls with autism may both be distinct.

A widely used screen for autism identifies only one-third of children at 18 months who are later diagnosed with the disorder, reports a large Norwegian study published 18 February in Paediatric and Perinatal Epidemiology.

Young boys continue to have the highest rate of autism diagnoses, but Danish doctors are diagnosing more girls, teenagers and adults with the disorder than they did in the mid-1990s. That’s the finding from a 16-year study published 20 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Families and schools spend about $17,000 more per year on a child with autism than they do on a typically developing child, reports a study published in the March issue of Pediatrics.

A teenager with fragile X syndrome carries a rare mutation that changes a single amino acid in the FMRP protein, researchers reported 22 January in the European Journal of Human Genetics.

It takes more mutations to trigger autism in women than in men, which may explain why men are four times more likely to have the disorder, according to a study published 26 February in the American Journal of Human Genetics.

Adding to the complications of autism, overweight and obese children with the disorder are prone to a host of other troubles, including depression, anxiety and sleep problems, reports a study published 2 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.