Autism Spectrum Disorders News

Autism spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, major depressive disorder and schizophrenia all share common genetic risk factors, according to the results of the largest genetic study of psychiatric disorders to date.

Researchers reported that maternal use of supplemental folic acid around the time of conception was associated with a 39% lower odds of an autism spectrum disorder — specifically, autistic disorder — in children. The study results are consistent with previous research.

Adults with autism had significantly worse health care experiences than adults without the disorder, according to recent study findings.

Children with autism spectrum disorder were almost nine times more likely to visit the ED for psychiatric crises compared with children without the disorder, according to study results. Externalizing symptoms and psychotic disorders were the leading cause of ED visits among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

The pain-related cries of infants at risk for autism spectrum disorder had a higher and more variable fundamental frequency — or pitch — compared with the cries of low-risk infants, researchers reported. The study results may have implications for early diagnosis of the disorder.

Eighty percent of parents who had at least one child with autism spectrum disorder reported that they were interested in a genetic assessment of the disorder in a younger, undiagnosed sibling — if such a test was available to them — according to a new report published in Clinical Pediatrics.

Exposure to regional pollution and pollution from local traffic sources during pregnancy and the first year of life has been associated with more than a twofold risk for autism in children, according to recent study results.

Among young adults with disabilities, those with autism spectrum disorders had the highest participation rates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics — or STEM — majors in college, according to a recent report in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.

Nearly half of children with autism spectrum disorders are reported to wander or “bolt,” and more than half of these children go missing, according to study results published online.

Insufficient evidence exists to back medical interventions for adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorders, according to the results of a study published online.