Based on current evidence, the commonly practiced therapy of prescribing antidepressants to people with autistic spectrum disorders cannot be recommended, according to a new study by Cochrane researchers...

Researchers at UQ's Parenting and Family Support Centre are offering a free program to parents of children aged two to nine with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Called "Primary Care Stepping Stones Triple P", it is the latest version of the popular Stepping Stones Triple P program, designed specifically for parents of children with a disability...

Abnormal eye movements and other sensorimotor and neurobehavioral impairments appear common in unaffected family members of individuals with autism, according to a report in the August issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals...

The College of Direct Support (CDS), an internet-based college for Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) and managed in partnership by Elsevier/MC Strategies and the University of Minnesota's Research and Training Center, has introduced its fourth Disability Intensive Course (DIC) into the CDS Curriculum "Brain Injury...

Two University of Iowa biologists have published a paper on how cells make specific interactions during development -- in the hope of one day learning more about human developmental disorders -- in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dietmar Schreiner, postdoctoral researcher, and Joshua A...

The way the brain reacts differently to the sense of touch in people with Autism will be examined as part of an innovative Cardiff University study designed to create better understanding of the condition...

Autism Speaks' Chief Science Officer Geraldine Dawson, Ph.D. emphasized the importance of research on environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorders as the U.S...

The parents of grown children with autism are more likely to divorce than couples with typically developing children, according to new data from a large longitudinal study of families of adolescents and adults with autism...

The Houston Chronicle: "Though Texas has the nation's lowest percentage of registered organ and tissue donors, several recent initiatives have more than doubled the state's donor rolls this year. The number enrolled in the Glenda Dawson Donate Life Texas Registry has ballooned since Jan...

An accurate, faster testing option to identify female carriers and other patients with genetic abnormalities that cause Fragile X Syndrome is now available to physicians in all fifty states with the recent approval in New York. Fragile X is the leading cause of inherited mental retardation and the most common known single gene cause of autism...

Curemark, LLC, a drug research and development company focused on the treatment of neurological diseases, announced that Saint Peter's University Hospital in New Brunswick, New Jersey, is participating in the company's Phase III clinical trials for CM-AT, Curemark's autism treatment. Saint Peter's is affiliated with the Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia...

The National Autistic Society (NAS) has ramped up its legal campaigning with the launch of a new Autism Legal Network and a call for cases with the potential to change the law for the half a million people with autism in the UK. Mark Lever, chief executive of the NAS said; "The NAS is evolving. Last year we successfully secured the landmark Autism Act...

Seaside Therapeutics, Inc. announced data from the largest randomized, placebo-controlled study conducted to date in individuals with fragile X syndrome. In a Phase 2 study of STX209, clinically meaningful improvements on global and specific neurobehavioral outcomes were observed in the general study population...

Asuragen, Inc. announced the results from two collaborative studies, one with the University of California Davis M.I.N.D. Institute and another with Rush University Medical Center, that demonstrate comprehensive molecular profiling of the Fragile X Mental Retardation (FMR1) gene using advanced PCR-based methods...

XenoPort, Inc. (Nasdaq:XNPT) announced that it has discovered a novel prodrug that has the potential to improve significantly the blood concentration of acamprosate compared with the currently approved formulation of acamprosate. Preclinical data on this new product candidate will be presented at the National Fragile X Foundation's 12th International Fragile X Conference in Detroit, Michigan...

Accelerated research findings leading to potentially significant new treatments for fragile X syndrome (FXS) will be presented to nearly 1,000 family members and professionals at the 12th International Fragile X Conference in Dearborn July 21-25...

Autism is the fastest growing developmental disorder in the world. With 1 child in 91 facing the disorder, the diagnosis is more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes, and AIDS combined...

The National Autistic Society (NAS) has welcomed the establishment of the Commission on the Funding of Care and Support today, but urged that it must consider how to fund support for those with lifelong conditions, such as autism, who are less able to save and pay for their social care...

Using a new type of "vocal signature" technology that focuses on sound patterns rather than words in child vocalizations and baby talk, researchers in the US say they have proved in principle that it is possible to screen for autism spectrum disorders in young children; they also hope the new method will greatly enhance the study of language development because it...

A new automated vocal analysis technology could fundamentally change the study of language development as well as the screening for autism spectrum disorders and language delay, reports a study in the July 19 online Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences...