A new study finds that preschool teachers can help improve social skills in 2- to 5-year-old children with autism by modeling behaviors such as showing and pointing, and enthusiastically responding when children mimic these behaviors.

A new study finds that Dutch children picked up by the police for minor offenses score higher than controls on a questionnaire measuring traits of autism.

A protein that regulates the development of serotonin-producing neurons in the brain is associated with autism.

Researchers have optimized an early social screening questionnaire to distinguish autism from other developmental disabilities in preschool-aged children.

Probiotic bacteria alleviate stress in healthy mice and modify the expression of receptors for a chemical messenger that inhibits signaling in the brain.

An adventure story about a boy with autism is making an appearance in a popular comic book.

Individuals with fragile X syndrome make slightly more eye contact in stressful social situations after taking oxytocin compared with placebo.

Impairments in vision, even if they don’t cause autism, are likely to be manifestations of underlying neural abnormalities, says Pawan Sinha, professor of vision and founder of the humanitarian organization Project Prakash.  

A compound that shows promise as a treatment for fragile X syndrome alleviates repetitive behaviors in mice, but unexpectedly makes them less social.

Zebrafish share genes and pathways with humans, making them a useful tool to identify the genes that malfunction in autism, says expert Hazel Sive.