News -05-19-09 Genetic Marker for Autism Found (Time.com) "The newly discovered autism-risk gene, identified by authors as CACNA1G, is more common in boys than in girls (why that's so is still not clear), and the authors suggest it plays a role in boys' increased risk of the developmental disorder." 05-09 -07-28-08 Early Diagnosis of Autism Emerges (Newsweek) "A new study finds that autism can be identified at around 14 months, much earlier than previously thought. How early diagnosis can improve outcomes." 07-08 Papers Autism Spectrum Disorders (AutismSpeaks.org) "Autism is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. It is part of a group of disorders known as autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Today, 1 in 150 individuals is diagnosed with autism, making it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined. It occurs in all racial, ethnic, and social groups and is four times more likely to strike boys than girls. Autism impairs a person's ability to communicate and relate to others. It is also associated with rigid routines and repetitive behaviors, such as obsessively arranging objects or following very specific routines. Symptoms can range from very mild to quite severe." 04-08 Autism and Genes (MSNBC News) "U.S. researchers said on Monday they had identified a genetic mutation that raises the risk of autism and could also explain some of the other symptoms seen in children with autism." 10-06 Autism: The Hidden Epidemic? (MSNBC News) "While the causes for the dramatic rise in autism cases over the past decade are the subject of much debate, one thing is certain: early diagnosis is crucial." 10-06 Diagnosis of Autism (CureAutismNow.org) "Currently, there is no single medical test that will definitively diagnose autism. Instead, the diagnosis is made on the basis of observable characteristics of the individual." 3-05 Diagnosis of Autism (The British Journal of Psychiatry) "Sixteen thousand children in the southeast of England were screened for autism by their health visitor or GP, during their routine 18-month-old developmental check-up, using the CHAT (Checklist for Autism in Toddlers)." 3-05 Early Signs of Autism (Time.com) "Among the telltale signs of trouble at 12 months: not responding to one's name; not sharing interests through pointing and eye gaze; lack of joyful expression; an absence of babbling; difficulty establishing eye contact; and staring too long at inanimate objects (see FirstSigns.org for more early-warning signs)." 05-09 Genes Give New Clues to Autism (ABC News) "Harvard researchers have discovered half a dozen new genes involved in autism that suggest the disorder strikes in a brain that can't properly form new connections." "The findings also may help explain why intense education programs do help some autistic children - because certain genes that respond to experience weren't missing, they were just stuck in the 'off' position." "But the study's bigger message is that autism is too strikingly individual to envision an easy gene test for it. Instead, patients are turning out to have a wide variety, almost a custom set, of gene defects." 07-08 Guidance for Parents (US News) "The earlier parents and doctors realize that a child has autism, the earlier that child gets help. The American Academy of Pediatrics today issued new guidelines aimed at making it easier for children with autism to be diagnosed earlier and get appropriate therapy sooner." 10-07 New Assessment of Autism (Time.com) "There's been a lot of news recently about efforts to detect signs of autism in children earlier — even before age 2, which is when doctors typically make the first diagnosis based on toddlers' behavior and development. (Read about these efforts here and here.) Now a new study sheds light on another key issue — why autistic children tend to develop larger brains than those without the condition." 04-11 New MRI May Test for Autism (AOLHealth.com) "A new test that is not available to the public appears to allow doctors to spot autism more easily with the help of of an MRI scan. Researchers at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Mass., have determined that they can use MRI to detect high-functioning autism with 94 percent accuracy." 12-10 Signs and Symptoms of Autism (MSNBC News) "Children with autism and other autism spectrum disorders typically display a range of identifiable symptoms. By being aware of these signs, parents can help spot the disorder at an earlier age, which greatly improves a child’s overall prognosis. Click on a category to learn more about the symptoms to watch for." 10-06 Study to Measure Early Symptoms of Autism More Precisely (EarthTimes.org) "Symptoms of ASD identified by Wetherby in 2004 include a lack of typical behaviors for this age group, such as looking at faces, smiling and sharing emotion, communicating with gestures and playing with objects. They may also have unusual behaviors that typical children do not display, such as repetitive movements with the body or objects. This study will allow researchers to measure these and other behaviors more precisely." 05-06 Study: Autism Linked to Gene (EarthTimes.org) "There is evidence now that a mutation of a gene called PTEN could be the cause of at least some forms of autism, the disease that affects human behavior." "Researchers at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas said they have been able to create mice with autism features by deleting PTEN in certain parts of the brain." 05-06 Study: One in 38 Children May Have Autism Spectrum Disorder (Time.com) "In the first large-scale study of its kind, U.S. and South Korean researchers report that the rate of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be significantly higher than previously thought, affecting as many as 1 in 38 children. The findings suggest that many youngsters may be going undiagnosed and untreated for the developmental disorder." "In a study that involved students in both special needs and regular elementary schools in the Ilsan district of Goyang, South Korea, scientists led by Dr. Young Shin Kim at Yale University School of Medicine found that among 55,266 children aged 7 to 12, the rate of ASDs was 2.64% (or one case of ASD for every 38 youngsters). That percentage outstrips the current U.S estimate of 1 in 110 eight-year-olds — around 1% — a rate that has itself risen in recent years." 05-11

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