Autism | featured news

It was a clue — the kind of clue medical researchers notice. Intent on finding answers about autism, now estimated to affect 1 of every 88 children, they followed it, poking and prodding and scanning, prying open its secrets.

For the first time in nearly two decades, experts are trying to rewrite the definition of autism.

The number of children with autism in the U.S. continues to rise, with 1 in 88 having some form of autism spectrum disorder, according to a report by federal officials.

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) tend to be preoccupied with screen-based media. A new study by Paul Shattuck, PhD, assistant professor at the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis, looks at how children with ASDs spend their "screen time."

Susan Elmer juggles the many needs of her 15-year-old son, Timothy, who has lived most of his life with Asperger's syndrome, a condition considered on the spectrum of autism disorders. The telltale signs of Asperger's -- which include communication difficulties, obsession with narrow subjects and a difficulty picking up on certain social cues -- make crucial activities like learning in a school setting a challenge.

Vaccines can cause certain side effects but serious ones appear very rare - and there's no link with autism and Type 1 diabetes, the Institute of Medicine says in the first comprehensive safety review in 17 years....

Siblings of kids with autism have a higher risk of being diagnosed with the disorder than previously believed, suggests a new study.

A new study finds that children conceived in March are significantly more likely to have autism.

An ambitious six-year effort to gauge the rate of childhood autism in a middle-class South Korean city has yielded a figure that stunned experts and is likely to influence the way the disorder’s prevalence is measured around the world, scientists reported on Monday.

A simple checklist that parents fill out in the waiting room may help doctors someday screen for warning signs of autism as early as a baby's first birthday.