This month’s newsletter takes a close look at the orphan drug program in the United States, several cannabis-based therapies and a secondary analysis of bumetanide, among other new developments in autism-related drug trials.

After a year of intense growth, funding for biotech is in decline. The result is layoffs and program cuts — and maybe some innovation.

Early treatment with nutritional supplements and a high-protein diet forestalls some neurodevelopmental problems for children with BCKDK deficiency.

Both human and mouse progenitor cells with the alterations struggle to become neurons and instead express genes that are typically active only in muscle or the heart.

The treatment eases the animals’ sleep troubles, suggesting it has clinically meaningful effects beyond what was thought to be a critical window in early life.

The power struggle between researchers, autistic self-advocates and parents is threatening progress across the field.

Applied behavior analysis, the most common intervention for children diagnosed with autism, is the subject of an intense debate between practitioners and neurodiversity advocates.

Going on Trial rounds up new developments in autism-related drug trials. This month we’re revisiting decade-old data from a trial of arbaclofen for fragile X syndrome and looking into a new implant-based approach to quelling seizures, among other treatment strategies.

To include more autistic people in research, here’s what scientists need to know about informed consent procedures for study participants who have impaired decision-making capacity.

This edition takes aim at the autism-intervention evidence base with a slew of null results, plus findings that challenge a prevailing autism brain theory.