Autism ranks among the top ten health problems for young people under 20.
Parents of Black teens with autism worry that their kids’ condition might put them at greater risk during interactions with police.
A new study published Dec. 16 in the jou...
If Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is approved to head the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, he will be free to revisit a long-debunked link between autism and childhood vaccines, President-elect Donald Trump said Sunday.
The remarks came during an exclusive interview ...
Are people with autism less able to "read" the nefarious intent of criminals, leaving them more vulnerable to scams or coercion into criminal activity?
It's been a common notion among trial lawyers, the Australian researchers behind a new report say, but it's not grounde...
Big surges in new autism diagnoses among young adults, as well a rise in diagnoses for girls and young women, have driven a near-tripling of U.S. autism cases in just over a decade, researchers report.
Data on over 12 million patients enrolled in major U.S. health care s...
Kids born during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic appear to have no higher risk of autism, even if they were exposed to COVID in the womb, a new study finds.
The study offers...
A new brain imaging study has concluded that autism likely isn’t caused by faulty connections to the amygdala.
A prevailing hypothesis of autism spectrum disorder has held that people with the condition have poorer neural connections in certain brain regions, inclu...
AI can help predict which young kids are more likely to develop autism, a new study says.
The AI looks for patterns in medical data that can be easily obtained from children 2 or younger without extensive assessments or clinical tests, researchers said.
The “...
There’s a good chance that if one child in a family has autism, another will also develop the disorder, a new study suggests.
Children are seven times more likely to be diagnosed with autism if an older sibling has the disorder, researchers reported recently in th...
The Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel has left children and parents with significant psychological scars, a new study shows.
But families with a child who has autism have been especially hard hit, according to researchers from the
New research offers what could become a surprising way to diagnose whether a child has autism: Simply check the makeup of their gut microbiome.
In a study published July 8 in the journal Nature Microbi...
If your child is among the youngest in their school grade, it's more likely they'll be mistakenly identified by teachers as having ADHD or autism, a new study confirms.
"Adults...
Severe forms of autism could be linked to overgrowth of the brain's outer layer that starts while a baby is in the womb, a new study finds.
Toddlers with autism have cerebral cortexes -- often referred to as "gray matter"-- that are roughly 40% larger than those of child...
Fetal exposure to fluoride from a mom-to-be's drinking water might raise the odds for physical and mental health issues in toddlers, new research suggests.
The study, which was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health, wasn't designed to prove cause-and-effect. ...
Kids are very likely to make the acquaintance of a child diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder at some point, whether they know it or not.
An estimated 95% of children with disabilities enroll in regular schools, experts say.
"Given the rates of autism diagn...
Prescription opioids taken during pregnancy are not associated with a substantial increase in risk of developmental disorders like ADHD in children, a new study has found.
"A slightly inc...
There's no evidence that acetaminophen use during pregnancy increases the risk of childhood autism, ADHD or intellectual disability, the largest study to date on the subject has concluded.
<...Chemicals found in common household products might damage the brain's wiring, a new study warns.
These chemicals -- found in disinfectants, cleaners, hair products, furniture and textiles -- could be linked to degenerative brain diseases like multiple sclerosis and autis...
A common antiseizure drug used to treat epilepsy, migraines and bipolar disorder does not appear to increase the risk of autism for kids exposed to it in the womb, ...
Children exposed to anesthesia in the womb when their pregnant mom has surgery are more likely to suffer from behavioral issues later, a new study finds.
Exposure to general anesthesia before birth was associated with a 31% increased risk of diagnosis with a behavioral d...
The eyes may have it when it comes to the early diagnosis of autism in children, a new study finds.
Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), have pinpointed a gene that affects how kids' eyes react when they turn their heads.
Typically, pe...
According to the advocacy group Autism Speaks, one in every 36 U.S. children has an autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Early diagnosis is crucial to helping to treat the condition, but how is a diagnosis done?...
There is no significant link between premature birth and autism, new research out of Israel suggests.
Findings from the study of more than 100,000 deliveries were presented Tuesday at a meeting of the Society for Maternal Fetal Medicine in National Harbor, Md.
...Could a blood pressure drug thats been around since the 1960s help ease anxiety in people with autism?
That's the main finding from a small study where 69 people between the ages of 7 and 24 who had autism were given the drug, called
The fluid-filled spaces around the brain's blood vessels need proper waste "clearance" every few hours. When that fails to happen, a baby's risk for autism appears to rise, new research shows.
It's too early to say that trouble within these "perivascular" spaces causes a...
It may seem a bit counterintuitive, but treating the pancreas of a child with autism could help ease problematic behaviors, new research shows.
The key here, researchers say, is the link between dietary protein intake and crucial brain neurotransmitter chemicals, such as...
University of Louisville researchers say they've developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system with a near-perfect record of diagnosing autism in toddlers.
Using specialized MRI scans of the brain, the tool diagnosed toddlers with 98.5% accuracy, according to findings...
Kids with a genetic risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are likely to spend hours a day glued to their screens, but researchers say it doesn't mean screen time causes ASD.
The investigators also found that children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)...
TikTok may be great for watching funny cat videos and learning make-up hacks, but new research suggests this platform should not be trusted when it comes to information on autism.
"The majority of the information was either blatantly false or overgeneralized,"said study ...
Severe inflammation very early in childhood might hamper the development of key brain cells, perhaps setting the stage for conditions such as autism or schizophrenia, new research suggests.
The origins of many neurodevelopment disorders remain mysterious. But the new stu...
Not all children diagnosed with autism as toddlers continue to have that diagnosis once they reach elementary school, a new study shows.
While some past research has suggested this could be true, the new research backs that up, finding that a large percentage -- about 37...
As many as 1 in 4 teens with autism may be undiagnosed, new research suggests.
"Autism is much more prevalent than people assume,"said lead researcher Walter Zahorodny, a...
Faced with growing reports of inaccurate clinical lab tests, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday announced that it will for the first time regulate these vital diagnostic tools.
Many Americans might have assumed that the FDA already had oversight of all medic...
Just 1 in 4 children with autism is diagnosed before age 3, but a new eye-tracking technology may allow for earlier diagnosis and intervention, according to three clinical studies of more than 1,500 kids.
Autism is a disorder marked by difficulties with communication and...
Research using three-dimensional replicas of the developing brain created in a lab dish is shedding new light on autism spectrum disorder.
Yale researchers found two paths to autism in the developing brain.
"It's amazing that children with the same symptoms end up ...
People with autism are over three times more likely than their peers without the developmental disorder to experience self-injury, suicidal ideation, suicide attempt, or death by suicide, new research shows.
"In general, I think there needs to be more support for indivi...
In a study of families that have multiple children with autism, researchers have unearthed new insights into genes that might drive the disorder.
"Study design is critical, and not enough attention has been paid to studying families with more than one affected child,"sai...
More kids in the United States are getting a developmental disability diagnosis, with prevalence close to 9% in 2021, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
Among 3- to 17-year-olds, 8.56% have ever been diagnosed with a developmental disability, co...
Children with autism have well-known difficulties with social interactions, but a new study is highlighting another area where they can struggle: memory.
Researchers found that compared with their peers, school-age kids with autism showed more difficulty managing memory ...
Marijuana use during pregnancy may impact the baby's brain development and long-term health, according to new research with monkeys.
THC (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) -- the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis -- altered the placental an...
The use of antipsychotic medication in children is continuing to plummet, likely because of better policies and education, new research shows.
The study found a 43% drop in antipsychotic prescriptions for Medicaid-enrolled children in 45 states, a stark contrast from the...
At any age an autism diagnosis is a major event. But is it best to find out while still young or might a late-in-life diagnosis give adults a better shot at a good quality of life?
Researchers working to unlock the mysteries of autism report they have discovered differences among children when two in a family have the condition versus just one.
Scientists from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in New York have been researching the genetic origins of au...
While a lot of research has focused on autism in children, much less effort goes toward studying adults with autism.
Now, two new reports find this group is at substantial risk for age-related physical conditions and injuries, as well as being particularly susceptible to...
About a third of children with autism aren't able to speak -- but that doesn't mean they're unable to listen and comprehend, a new study reports.
About 1 in 4 kids and teens who have autism and are minimally verbal understand significantly more language than they're able...
Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls are, but girls may be more likely to experience anxiety alongside the disorder than boys, new research reveals.
Anxiety tends to travel with autism, which is characterized by problems with social inte...
"Mindfulness" practices may help parents of young children with autism manage their daily stressors, and it could benefit their kids in the process, a preliminary study suggests.
Parenting is stressful, and studies show that parents of kids with autism often have particu...
Researchers have long tried to pinpoint a reason that some people have autism or autistic traits.
A new study from the United Kingdom builds upon evidence about one potential factor, finding that ...
While mild cases make up the majority of autism diagnoses, "profound" autism affects about 27% of American children with the developmental disability, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Wednesday.
This is the first time the CDC has broken down t...
A leading doctors' group recommends that toddlers get screening for autism at 18 months old. That may not be a moment too soon -- and earlier may be even better, researchers say.
A new randomized clinical trial, the gold standard for studies, backs up the recommendation ...