Autism Spectrum Disorders News

Adults with autism spectrum disorder who preferred to use Facebook moderately showed greater happiness than those who did not; however, this benefit was not seen for Twitter users, according to study findings.

Cognitive enhancement therapy was associated with improvements in neurological and social cognition in adults with autism spectrum disorder, according to data published in Autism Research.

The use of a 2-minute parental survey that includes questions regarding their child’s ability to respond to their name, gestures they use to get attention and language skills is effective in distinguishing which children may need further intervention for autism.

Study findings indicate that reduced orienting to synchronous sights and sounds within biological motion in infancy is an early sign of autism spectrum disorder.

The FDA granted breakthrough therapy designation to balovaptan in treating autism spectrum disorder, according to a press release from the therapy’s manufacturer.

Black parents mentioned significantly fewer autism concerns as well as fewer repetitive, restricted and social behavior concerns in their children vs. white parents, according to findings recently published in Autism.

Women who took an antiepileptic drug while pregnant had a five to eight times increased risk for having a child with autistic traits if they did not use folic acid prior to conception and during early pregnancy, according to findings recently published in JAMA Neurology.

Study findings show that maternal use of folic acid and multivitamin supplements before and during pregnancy was associated with a lower risk of having a child with autism spectrum disorder, compared with children of mothers who were not exposed to these supplements.

A wide range of social functioning, employment rates and self-reported independence levels were reported in a cohort of adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibited abnormal brain morphometry in cognitive and affective parts of the striatum, frontal cortex and temporal cortex, with greatest differences in adolescence.