Efforts to ease the symptoms of autism are beginning to ramp up, with promising candidates in various stages of testing.
To better understand and treat nonverbal autism, the field must paradoxically move beyond focusing on speech production, say many researchers. Emerging research suggests that seemingly unrelated issues such as motor skills and joint attention may instead be key.
Oxytocin may well have established its reputation as the ‘social hormone’ in the popular imagination, but it has no effect on symptoms in children with autism, according to a study published 26 July in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Spending a month in a stimulating cage filled with wheels and toys alleviates repetitive grooming in a mouse model of autism, according to a study published 28 June in Autism Research.
Teasing apart the link between autism and epilepsy opens the door for a possible preventive option for some cases of autism. But is the potential worth the risks?
Some children with autism and hyperactivity have a genetic intolerance to methylphenidate (Ritalin), the drug commonly prescribed for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, reports a new study published 16 July in Pharmacogenomics.
Using telemedicine, physicians can diagnose autism at a distance almost as well as they can in person, reports a new study published 19 July in Telemedicine and e-Health.
Children with autism, even those with low intelligence, can improve their self-control by practicing a Chinese mind-body exercise technique, reports a study published 10 July in PLoS One.
Children who have severe autism symptoms, epilepsy or poor intelligence and language skills fare worse as they age than their peers with milder symptoms, according to two long-term studies published in July, one of which spanned 40 years.
Preschool-aged children with autism make developmental and behavioral gains, regardless of the type of classroom in which they are enrolled, say Brian Boyd and Samuel Odom.
Latino children with autism are diagnosed an average of a year later than their white peers and receive fewer services, reports the June issue of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities.
