The U.S. Centers for Disease Control has been tracking autism rates among 8-year-old children in the United States for almost two decades. But it recently announced ifunding to follow up with some of those children when they reach age 16, to get a better idea of what happens with symptoms, health, and services during adolescence.
The U.S. Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) is accepting public comments in advance of its September 27 workshop, "Addressing the Health Needs of People on the Autism Spectrum."
A large study from Finland found that pregnant women with high levels of the pesticide DDT in their blood faced a greater risk of having a child with autism.1 Many countries banned DDT decades ago over environmental concerns, but it can persist in the soil and food chain. The study was published in the American Journal of Psychiatry today.
Connie Anderson, PhD, an autism researcher, will discuss bullying and autism in a free webinar on Tuesday, September 11, at 12 noon Eastern Time. Registration information will be provided in the coming weeks.
An analysis by researchers with the Cochrane Collection examined the accuracy of autism diagnostic tools for preschool children. They found the ADOS test "is best for not missing children who have ASD and is similar to CARS and ADI-R in not falsely diagnosing ASD in a child who does not have ASD."
Dr. Matthew Siegel, a top researcher with the Autism Inpatient Collection study, addressed the U.S. Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee recently about research into aggression and self-injury in people who are "severely affected" by autism.
A new study has linked Type 1 diabetes in pregnant women to a higher risk of autism in their babies, compared to expectant mothers who did not have diabetes.
People with autism often have difficulty with eye contact, but a new study shows that some typically-developing people do, too. Having a "decreased responsiveness to direct gaze" is linked to having more autistic traits in people who don't have autism, according to a research article published recently in the journal, Psychological Medicine.
The Interactive Autism Network is joining together with the Autism Treatment Network and the Anderson Center for Health Systems Excellence to create the Autism Learning Health Network. A learning network is a group of patients, families, doctors, and researchers that uses data to improve healthcare, in this case, for people with autism.