Autism News & Features

Childhood autism rates are at their highest level since the CDC began tracking the disorder in 2000 – a finding that likely reflects improved diagnosis and not an increase in incidence.

Earlier research suggested this practice may increase autism risk in offspring, but the pair of studies should put this concern to rest for good, experts say.

The American Academy of Pediatrics Council on Environmental Health lists 5 things doctors and patients should question in tests for kids with behavioral or developmental disorders.

The FDA emphasized that the device is only designed to help doctors diagnose autism in children. It isn’t designed to diagnose children on its own.

When parents raise concerns about autism, pediatricians are more likely to respond with follow-up care.

Asperger's is considered outdated terminology. It is no longer viewed as a diagnosis in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, the "bible" used by mental health professionals to diagnose conditions.

Gender may also play a role in certain eating disorders commonly seen in people with autism.

Research conducted mainly with boys might not apply to girls, a new study suggests.

Exposure to epidural during labor was not associated with subsequent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in a new study.

That delay means that young Black Americans miss out on early intensive treatment that is essential to help children with autism be better able to deal with school and social life, the researchers said.

Very few people with autism receive two recommended genetic tests, a new study finds.

The coronavirus pandemic can be especially difficult for children and adults with autism and their families, experts say.

A child with an uncle or aunt with autism appears to have a more than doubled risk of being diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder themselves, a new U.S. government-funded study reports.

The study didn't identify a heightened risk for autism per se among boys, but rather a "small" increase in the chance for developing certain autism-related traits by age 3 or 4.

If replicated in future trials, the drug treatment might be a breakthrough, since current treatments for autism in preschool kids are mainly behavioral -- therapies such as using play and activities with parents to improve a child's language, social and thinking skills.

The study, involving over 50 centers around the globe, identified 102 genes associated with ASD -- including a few dozen that had not been recognized before.

The study found that the brain waves of children with autism are, on average, 25% weaker (shallower) than those of children without autism.

The new guidelines reinforce the importance of routinely screening 18- and 24-month-olds for the condition, which now affects one in every 59 children.

New research shows that women who took  acetaminophen, best known as Tylenol, at the end of their pregnancies were much more likely to have child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or autism.

The study randomly compared use of the drug to a placebo over 16 weeks. In the end, the researchers saw no meaningful clinical benefits from the drug.

PRT is a set of behavioral techniques for motivating kids with autism to interact and communicate with other people during play activities and daily routines.

Prior studies had already implicated higher uterine concentrations of male sex hormones -- androgens -- in increasing the odds for an autism spectrum disorder.

A new study finds atypical eating behaviors -- such as hypersensitivity to food textures or pocketing food without swallowing -- in 70% of kids with autism. That's 15 times the rate typically found in children.

he largest study of its kind, involving more than 2 million people across five countries, finds that autism spectrum disorders are 80% reliant on inherited genes.

Researchers from the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine in Orlando found that high levels of propionic acid (PPA) -- used in processed foods to extend shelf life -- change nervous system development in the fetal brain