Autism News and Research

Latest Autism News and Research

Research shows no difference in communication between autistic and non-autistic individuals

There is no significant difference in the effectiveness of how autistic and non-autistic people communicate, according to a new study, challenging the stereotype that autistic people struggle to connect with others.

14 May 2025

New insights into how the brain creates a unified visual experience

People have a lot of misconceptions about what the brain's left and right hemispheres do, but one well-known aspect of this division may be even more true than people realize: The brain not only splits up visual spatial perception-processing what's on our left in the right hemisphere and what's on our right in the left hemisphere-it takes cognitive advantage of that.

13 May 2025

Exploring how play affects cognitive functioning in children with autism

Step into physical therapy professor Anjana Bhat's colorful Move 2 Learn Innovation Lab on the University of Delaware's Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus, and you may see children moving to the beat or leaping over structures as part of an obstacle course.

12 May 2025

Why your baby’s first steps may be written in their DNA

Researchers identified 11 genetic loci linked to the age at which infants start walking, revealing that this milestone is influenced by thousands of common genetic variants. These genetic factors also correlate with brain development, cognitive traits, and neurodevelopmental conditions like ADHD.

8 May 2025

FAU CARD releases free resource to prevent drowning in autistic children

Drowning is the leading cause of unintentional death for children aged 1 to 4 in Florida, and children with autism face even greater danger – many times more likely to drown than their neurotypical peers.

8 May 2025

Sen. Ron Wyden seeks answers on RFK Jr.’s purge of FOIA staff

The Department of Health and Human Services' mass dismissals of workers who release government records "raise grave transparency, accountability, and privacy concerns," Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden said Thursday.

8 May 2025

AI identifies brain cell types through electrical signatures

A decades-old challenge in neuroscience has been solved by harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to identify the electrical signatures of different types of brain cells for the first time, as part of a study in mice led by researchers from UCL.

7 May 2025

NIH and CMS launch partnership to build real world health data platform

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced a landmark partnership to enable NIH to build a real-world data platform enabling advanced research across claims data, electronic medical records, and consumer wearables.

7 May 2025

Baby's first steps influenced by genetics

The age at which babies take their first steps is strongly influenced by their genes, according to new research from the University of Surrey.

7 May 2025

Trump policies at odds with ‘make America healthy again’ push

In his March address to Congress, President Donald Trump honored a Texas boy diagnosed with brain cancer. Amid bipartisan applause, he vowed to drive down childhood cancer rates through his "Make America Healthy Again" initiative.

7 May 2025

Mental health diagnoses rise sharply among publicly insured children

In the first comprehensive investigation into the trends of mental health diagnoses among children with public health insurance, a new study reports the percentage of mental health and neurodevelopmental disorder diagnoses increased substantially in the decade before the COVID-19 pandemic.

6 May 2025

Study shows the connection between language disorders and handedness

Linguistic symptoms and an onset early in life: Disorders to which this applies are frequently associated with left-handedness resp. mixed-handedness.

5 May 2025

Spatial working memory remains stable in older adults with autistic traits

There is no difference over time in the spatial working memory of older people who have autistic traits and those who are neurotypical, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

1 May 2025

Study links impaired synaptic pruning to autism

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental condition in which affected individuals experience difficulties in social communication and exhibit restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior or interests.

30 Apr 2025

Eye contact may not be a definitive marker of autism, study shows

Children with autism are believed to face difficulties in social interactions, besides also lacking the ability to be attentive while interacting with others. In fact, eye contact avoidance is a key behavioral marker in the clinical diagnosis of autism.

25 Apr 2025

Autistic traits do not impact age-related decline in spatial working memory

There is no difference over time in the spatial working memory of older people who have autistic traits and those who are neurotypical, finds a new study led by UCL researchers.

24 Apr 2025

Measles could become endemic again in the United States

Childhood vaccination rates have been falling in the United States, especially since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

24 Apr 2025

Measles misinformation is on the rise — and Americans are hearing it, survey finds

While the most serious measles epidemic in a decade has led to the deaths of two children and spread to 27 states with no signs of letting up, beliefs about the safety of the measles vaccine and the threat of the disease are sharply polarized, fed by the anti-vaccine views of the country's seniormost health official.

23 Apr 2025

Study reveals a molecular connection between autism and myotonic dystrophy

A recent discovery of a molecular connection between autism and myotonic dystrophy, a type of neuromuscular disease, may provide a breakthrough on how clinicians approach autism spectrum disorder.

21 Apr 2025

Researchers uncover genetic link between autism spectrum disorder and myotonic dystrophy type 1

Scientists from The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and University of Las Vegas Nevada (UNLV) have uncovered a genetic link between autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a rare genetic condition called myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1).

21 Apr 2025