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(HealthDay)—An experimental drug for autism did not improve levels of lethargy and social withdrawal in children who took it, but it did show some other benefits, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-drug-benefit-kids-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 02 May 2013 06:50:03 EST news286690569 (HealthDay)—With four to five times more males affected by autism spectrum disorders than females, much less is known about girls with autism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-girls-autism-treatments-boys.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 02 May 2013 05:15:57 EST news286690550 (HealthDay)—Using a kid-friendly robot during behavioral therapy sessions may help some children with autism gain better social skills, a preliminary study suggests. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-kelly-robot-kids-tackle-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 02 May 2013 05:15:20 EST news286690512 An Autistica consultation published this month found that 24% of children with autism were non-verbal or minimally verbal, and it is known that these problems can persist into adulthood. Professionals have long attempted to support the development of language in these children but with mixed outcomes. An estimated 600,000 people in the UK and 70 million worldwide have autism, a neuro-developmental condition which is life-long. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-autistic-children.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 24 Apr 2013 19:00:02 EST news286045046 Identifying and understanding the combination of factors that leads to autism is an ongoing scientific challenge. This developmental disorder appears in the first three years of life, and affects the brain's normal development of social and communication skills. Results from a study led by Larry T. Reiter, PhD, at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) are providing significant insights into the disorder through the study of a specific form of autism caused by a duplication on chromosome 15. This month his work appears in Autism Research, the official journal of the International Society for Autism Research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-yields-significant-insights-common-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 26 Mar 2013 08:36:03 EST news283505667 A new study finds that two genes individually associated with rare autism-related disorders are also jointly linked to more general forms of autism. The finding suggests a new genetic pathway to investigate in general autism research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-misregulated-genes-big-autism-role.html Genetics Thu, 21 Mar 2013 09:35:36 EST news283077329 (Medical Xpress)—Schoolchildren on the autistic spectrum experience worrying levels of mental health difficulties, according to a new study by research psychologists from The University of Manchester. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-reveals-hidden-anguish-schoolchildren-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 18 Dec 2012 10:39:33 EST news275049537 Autism Speaks Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. describes how the dramatic progress in autism research has paralleled increased recognition of autism's prevalence and financial impact in the December issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry published on line today. "This issue of the journal features three articles on autism," she writes in her editorial. "A decade ago, the journal published about the same number of autism articles per year." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-autism-prevalence-parallels-explosion.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 26 Nov 2012 16:25:32 EST news273169525 Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, is proud to announce the release of biological and clinical data from 383 new families participating in Autism Speaks Autism Genetic Resource Exchange (AGRE) to researchers. AGRE is a resource for scientists that is comprised of clinical and biological data from families who have two or more children on the autism spectrum. These 383 families are part of a larger pool of 653 individuals with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) bringing the total data available on people with an ASD to 3348. The family data also includes family members without an ASD bringing the total to 9335 individuals, which reflects an over 24 percent increase. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-autism-genetic.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:20:20 EST news271603179 Men and women with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) may show subtle but significant differences in the cognitive functions impacted by the condition, according to new research published Oct 17 by Meng-Chuan Lai and colleagues from the Autism Research Centre at the University of Cambridge, UK in the open access journal PLOS ONE. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-impact-autism-men-women.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:00:03 EST news269710319 A new study published today in the journal Pediatrics (Epub ahead of print) found that nearly half of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are reported to wander or "bolt," and more than half of these children go missing. Led by researchers from the Interactive Autism Network (IAN), the nation's largest online autism research initiative and a project of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, this study provides the most comprehensive estimate of elopement occurrence in a United States community-based sample of more than 1,200 children with ASD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-children-autism-safe.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 08 Oct 2012 04:18:01 EST news268888667 Autism is a disorder well known for its complex changes in behavior—including repeating actions over and over and having difficulty with social interactions and language. Current approaches to understanding what causes these atypical behaviors focus primarily on specific brain regions associated with these specific behaviors without necessarily linking back to fundamental properties of the brain's signaling abilities. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-autistic-adults-unreliable-neural-responses.html Neuroscience Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:00:07 EST news267273970 (Medical Xpress)—A team of Australian researchers, led by University of Melbourne has developed a genetic test that is able to predict the risk of developing Autism Spectrum Disorder, ASD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-genetic-at-risk-autism-spectrum-disorder.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:26:30 EST news266655952 Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today announced its expanded collaboration with Sigma Advanced Genetic Engineering (SAGE) Labs, an initiative of Sigma Life, to develop the first rat models with modified autism associated genes, intended to accelerate discovery and translational autism research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-autism-sage-labs-rat.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 02 Aug 2012 11:14:11 EST news263124842 A new prospective study of six-month-old infants at high genetic risk for autism identified weak head and neck control as a red flag for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and language and/or social developmental delays. Researchers at the Kennedy Krieger Institute concluded that a simple "pull-to-sit" task could be added to existing developmental screenings at pediatric well visits to improve early detection of developmental delays. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-simple-task-months-age-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Thu, 17 May 2012 11:42:03 EST news256473663 (HealthDay) -- Many parents of children with an autism spectrum disorder don't feel they can turn to their pediatricians for advice on treatments, a new study finds. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-parents-kids-autism-dont-faith.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 17:50:01 EST news256399336 (HealthDay) -- Researchers report that a new DNA test may be able to spot an increased risk of autism in children as young as 6 months old. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-genetic-autism.html Pediatrics Wed, 16 May 2012 15:30:02 EST news256399260 A new University of Miami (UM) study shows that one in three children who have an older sibling with an Autism Related Disorder (ASD) fall into a group characterized by higher levels of autism-related behaviors or lower levels of developmental progress. The study will be presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR) in May, 2012. ASDs are developmental conditions characterized by problems with social interaction and communication. Previously, an international consortium of researchers found that almost one in five of the younger siblings of children with an ASD themselves developed an ASD. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-siblings-children-autism-spectrum-disorders.html Autism spectrum disorders Wed, 16 May 2012 12:17:29 EST news256389441 (HealthDay) -- Mothers of children with autism and autism spectrum disorders earn significantly less than what mothers of children who have no health limitations earn, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-03-mothers-kids-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:10:41 EST news251367026 Teaching young children with autism to imitate others may improve a broader range of social skills, according to a new study by a Michigan State University scholar. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-autism.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 12 Dec 2011 11:15:42 EST news242910930 New research from the University of Utah in collaboration with the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) shows that the presence or absence of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorders (ASD) varies with risk factors such as gender, parental age, maternal ethnicity, and maternal level of education. The study, published Sept. 15, 2011, in Autism Research, also shows that household income level has no association with either ID or ASD, in contrast to what other studies have suggested. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-autism-intellectual-disabilities-parental-age.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Sep 2011 09:11:47 EST news235642098 What hides behind the enigma of autism? Dr. John Skoyles of University College London, in a paper published this September in Autism Research and Treatment, identifies the type of information used to process synonyms and context in search engines such as Google. Without this information, individuals with autism experience themselves, other people and the world in an overly literal manner. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-google-theory-autism-approach.html Other Thu, 01 Sep 2011 07:32:17 EST news234081095 A new study from Cambridge University has for the first time found that autism diagnoses are more common in an IT-rich region. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-autism-common-it-rich-region.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:59:57 EST news227786357 Much about autism is unknown, but researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center (URMC) are working to learn more about the neurodevelopmental disorder and its most effective treatments. A team of researchers from URMC joins researchers from across the world in San Diego this week for the 10th annual International Meeting for Autism Research (IMFAR). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-rochester-autism-imfar.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Sat, 14 May 2011 06:40:09 EST news224573979