Latest Conditions comorbid to autism spectrum disorders Stories

U.S. researchers say teens with autism spectrum disorders were helped by classes in social skills. The study, published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, finds the group of high-functioning teens with ASD taking the class improved significantly more than a control group not taking the classes. Although, typically, developing teens often learn basic social rules through observation of peer behavior and specific instruction from parents, adolescents with autism spectrum...

April 2nd is World Autism Awareness Day VILLANOVA, Pa. and 15 Centers Nationwide, April 1 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Everyday, 67 children are diagnosed with autism, in boys, the likelihood of an autism diagnosis is four times that of girls. More children will be diagnosed with autism this year than with cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined, yet startlingly, many parents don't know how to spot the early warning signs of autism in their children or where to turn for help when those signs are...

Twenty years after being assessed in an autism study, 41 people with autism in Utah had higher social outcomes and some had higher IQs, researchers said. First author Megan A. Farley of the University of Utah Health Sciences said the researchers can't explain why the follow-up study showed the Utah group fared better overall in living independently, but it may be related to early intervention and strong social and family networks. This is an amazing group of people who, in many cases, did a...

U.S. researchers say a drug approved to prevent tissue rejection reverses brain dysfunction in mice caused by genetic disease. The drug -- rapamycin -- reversed brain dysfunction caused by a genetic disease called tuberous sclerosis complex, or TSC. Because half of TSC patients also suffer from autism, the findings offer new hope for addressing learning disorders due to autism. The University of California-Los Angeles researchers studied mice bred with TSC and verified the animals suffered...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science CorrespondentST. LOUIS -- People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition, experts said on Sunday.At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even autistics who do not speak can have above-average intelligence. They also offered additional studies...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent ST. LOUIS (Reuters) - People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition, experts said on Sunday. At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even autistics who do not speak can have above-average intelligence. They also offered...

By Maggie Fox, Health and Science CorrespondentST. LOUIS (Reuters) - People with autism are more intelligent and able to function better than previously believed, but mistrust of doctors, biased tests and the Internet have bred myths about the condition, experts said on Sunday.At a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, researchers presented reports showing that even autistics who do not speak can have above-average intelligence. They also offered additional...

New research from Melbourne's Howard Florey Institute helps to explain why children with autism spectrum disorders (autism) have problem-solving difficulties. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging technology (fMRI) the Florey scientists have shown that children with autism have less activation in the deep parts of the brain responsible for executive function (attention, reasoning and problem solving). Research leader Dr Ross Cunnington said autism was known to have a biological cause,...

A new classification tool may allow healthcare professionals treating children with autism and autism-related disorders to more systematically sort out the combination of traits in the condition, and to better predict how children may improve over time. If the model holds up to further study, it may also allow researchers to gauge the effectiveness of different autism treatments. Developmental pediatrician James Coplan, M.D., reports on a study of 91 children he saw between 1997 and 2002 at...