Efforts to ease the symptoms of autism are beginning to ramp up, with promising candidates in various stages of testing.
Children who have both autism and intellectual disability may understand fewer words than their speaking skills suggest, which is not the case for typically developing children or those with intellectual disability alone. The results were published 21 February in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Neurons lacking PTEN, an autism-associated gene also involved in cancer, are hyperconnected to both near and distant brain cells, according to a study published 1 February in The Journal of Neuroscience.
Children with autism are bullied three times more than their typically developing siblings, according to research from the Interactive Autism Network.
Researchers have generated neurons from the blood cells of individuals with autism, according to a study published 7 March in Neuroscience Letters.
Early intensive intervention is the only therapy that has been shown to be effective in young children with autism, according to a 2011 review of autism treatments commissioned by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. But researchers are just beginning to tease out what they refer to as its ‘active ingredients:’ why the treatment works, which elements are essential and why it fails to help some children.
How easy it is to engage the attention of a child with autism by gazing or pointing at an object may predict how well he or she will be able to function as an adult, according to a study published in the February issue of the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
DISC1, an autism-associated protein, can form large aggregates that deplete the amount of functional DISC1 in cells, according to a study published 14 February in Human Molecular Genetics.
A new clinical trial, conducted entirely online, could provide a model for how to quickly and efficiently test some potential treatments for autism.
Minority children tend to show more severe symptoms of autism early on, regardless of social class.
The French documentary Le Mur (The Wall) shows that many psychoanalysts in France shun biological explanations for autism.
