Many of the children with autism known to have outgrown their diagnosis received intense behavioral therapy for long periods of time during childhood, reports a study published in May in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.
 

Parents may notice a loss of skills in their children as it is happening, but do not recall it clearly later on. The unpublished research, presented yesterday at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta, hints at a fatal flaw in diagnostic tools for autism that rely on parents’ memory.

Adults with autism may suffer from various health problems, ranging from psychiatric conditions to motor symptoms that resemble Parkinson’s disease, according to two studies presented Thursday at the 2014 International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta.

Children with autism can be classified into one of four groups based on how they respond to stimuli such as taste, sound and even the orientations of their bodies in space, according to a study published 17 March in Autism Research.

Roughly one-third of children with fragile X syndrome also have an autism diagnosis. Studies published in the past few months, however, suggest that the set of autism-like symptoms seen in people with fragile X syndrome may only resemble autism superficially.

Untrained volunteers can reliably detect signs of autism in children by watching home videos of the children posted on YouTube, suggests a study published 16 April in PLoS One. But critics say fundamental design flaws in the study undermine its results.

A Norwegian study published in February suggested that the Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers fails to detect many cases of autism at 18 months of age. The creators of the test explain why there’s more to the story.

The U.S. has a severe shortage of active child and adolescent psychiatrists, but more scholarships and training opportunities may increase their ranks, says a report released 27 March.

By age 2, children with autism show difficulty with movement, communication, emotional control and problem-solving, distinct from the symptoms of children with other disorders, reports a study published in February.

The best predictors of treatment outcomes for children with autism may be subtle learning characteristics that are not specific to children with the disorder, rather than the symptoms that led to their diagnosis, say David Trembath and Giacomo Vivanti.