Researchers at the University of California, San Diego, have identified a rare, hereditary form of autism that may be treatable with nutritional supplements, a new study reports.
Autism
Why Autistic Kids Make Easy Targets for School Bullies
Bullying can lead to depression, low grades, behavioral problems and even physical illness because of the stress it causes — and kids with autism may be suffering the brunt of the harm
Older Fathers Linked to Kids’ Autism and Schizophrenia Risk
Don’t blame older mothers for their offsprings’ developmental problems. A new study finds “there is probably much more reason to be concerned with the age of the father”
How a Squirt of Oxytocin Could Ease Marital Spats and Boost Social Sensitivity
Oxytocin focuses our eyes — and our brains — on love. It could help troubled couples as well as autistic people
Pets Can Help Autistic Children Learn to Share and Comfort Others
Some autistic people report feeling more strongly connected to animals than to other people, but a new study suggests that introducing companion animals to autistic children at the right time in life may help with human bonding, too.
What Genius and Autism Have in Common
A study of eight child prodigies finds that share some striking characteristics, most notably high levels of autistic traits and an overrepresentation of autism in their close family members
Using Brain Activity Patterns to Identify Autism in Kids as Young as 2
In a large new study, researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital used EEG to identify specific patterns of brain activity that can distinguish children with autism.
Should Depressed People Avoid Having Children?
Do people with depression or other psychological problems have any moral obligation to forgo bearing children in order to avoid passing on their “bad” genes?
Family MattersParenting
Why Jenny McCarthy Doesn’t Matter
The former Playmate is posing nude again for Playboy. Will McCarthy’s fee bolster the cause of Generation Rescue, her autism research organization that rejects vaccines as dangerous?
Family MattersParenting
Are Vaccines Safe? A Major Media Outlet’s Specious Story Fans the Debate
The Learning Channel’s website yanked a story that was riddled with mistruths and flat-out errors — but only after major medical organizations complained.
‘Shock’ School Trial: Where Is the Evidence that Abuse Helps Treat Autism?
The video is brutal: a young man, pinned face down in four-point restraints, receiving 31 electric shocks over the course of several hours that convulse his body with pain. But this is not Guantánamo or Syria.
Family MattersAutism
Can Autism Really Be Diagnosed in Minutes?
A Harvard researcher says he’s achieved exceptional accuracy in identifying autism by using just seven online questions and an evaluation of a short home video of the child, instead of conventional, face-to-face exams that can take hours.
Seeking the Roots of Autism and Antisocial Personality in the Brain
Experts have long noted that both autism and antisocial personality disorder are marked by problems with empathy, yet the differences between the two conditions couldn’t be starker.
