Skip to main content

Spectrum: Autism Research News

topic /

Diagnosis

Diagnosing autism is an evolving science but a crucial first step to understanding the disorder.

A person stands in front of a neatly organized dresser drawer

Teasing apart insistence on sameness with Mirko Uljarević

by  /  30 October 2023
The hallmark autism trait has multiple facets, Uljarević and his colleagues have found.
A group of elementary school children run toward the entrance of a school, their backs turned to the camera.

Journal club: Why do some children lose their autism diagnosis?

by  /  9 October 2023
More than one-third of a cohort of autistic toddlers no longer meet criteria for the condition at school age, according to a new study, but the findings may not generalize because the cohort is predominantly white and affluent.
Illustration of a series of thin blocks of various shapes, sizes and colors positioned to resemble a bar graph.

Accounting for autism’s prevalence

by  /  20 September 2023
Read recent Spectrum coverage about autism’s apparent rise in prevalence — and some of the potential explanations for it.
September 2023
Research image of organoids in the forebrain.

Head size parts autism into two major subtypes

by  /  12 September 2023

An imbalance in the number of excitatory neurons in early brain development may account for the difference.

Comments
Research images from an eye-tracking study.

Tablet-based tool to spot autism validated in two studies

by  /  5 September 2023

The new tool could help clinicians diagnose autism in children younger than 3, the findings show.

Comments
Young child stacks colored blocks on a table.

High prevalence of developmental delay strains Australia’s support systems

by  /  1 September 2023

The nation needs to build capacity to support the roughly 20 percent of children in Australia who have developmental delay.

Comments
August 2023
Illustration of a series of web browser windows overlaid over a face, distorting it.

Scammers threaten quality of research survey data

by  /  24 August 2023

Jammed online surveys and invaded video calls are forcing researchers to rethink their outreach methods.

Comments
A grid of four brain scans showing excess cerebrospinal fluid.

Is excess brain fluid an early marker of autism?

by  /  17 August 2023

Brain scans of hundreds of infants suggest that up to 80 percent of those with autism have unusual amounts of cerebrospinal fluid. Researchers are studying how this might contribute to the condition.

Comments
Illustrated portrait of Carla Mazefsky.

Emotion dysregulation in autism with Carla Mazefsky

by  /  1 August 2023

The director of the University of Pittsburgh’s Autism Center of Excellence talks about her new work investigating suicidality in autistic adults.

Comments
July 2023
Illustrated portrait of Amy Wetherby.

Amy Wetherby: Impatient for progress

by  /  26 July 2023

A speech-language pathologist by training, Wetherby has spent more than four decades developing tools to help identify and treat autism early; now her work has taken on a more personal sense of urgency.

Comments
Research image of interneurons in the outer layer of a human brain.

‘Gain-of-function’ mutation spawns autism traits

by  /  24 July 2023

The mutation increases the activity of an autism-linked protein and leads to social difficulties and other behavioral differences in mice.

Comments
Blurry photograph of a crowd of people on a street.

Some who lack autism diagnosis carry variants tied to the condition

by  /  13 July 2023

The variants are associated with slight differences in measures of intelligence, income and employment, but the relationship may not be causal.

Comments
A slice of a cerebellum

Mutation in top autism-linked gene may alter eye reflex

by  /  7 July 2023

The discovery could help clinicians diagnose children who carry mutations in the gene, called SCN2A, and gauge their responses to potential therapies.

Comments