Among the millions displaced by the war in Ukraine are children and adults with autism. Many autism professionals are doing what they can to help.

Early interventions for autism lack solid data. The source of this problem is murky but may stem from ongoing debates about evidence quality and entrenched conflicts of interest within the field.

As postdoctoral positions become longer but salaries stay low, many researchers say they must decide whether they can afford an academic career.

Petrus de Vries is on a quest to outfit Africa, the continent of his birth, with trained autism researchers and service providers.

Tony Charman and Catherine Lord answer questions from Spectrum’s webinar on the Lancet Commission’s recommendations for autism research.

A researcher and science officer give tips for getting started with grant writing; scientists on Twitter explain why they went tenure-track; and a neurobiologist discusses why the field’s next generation needs to learn to code.

Most working scientists aren’t optimistic about their career prospects, according to a Nature survey; expecting passion may be detrimental in academia; and there are new funding opportunities on the horizon, with upcoming deadlines.

Use of the term ‘profound autism’ is among the recommendations made by a panel of autism researchers, clinicians, autistic adults and parents of autistic people.

An online community is helping many new principal investigators through a tricky time, plus other resources for early-career autism researchers.

Cannabis-derived drugs are approved to treat only a small number of autism-related conditions, but many autistic people and their families experiment with medical marijuana to ease autism traits. In this special report, Spectrum rounds up what the science says about cannabis and autism.