A missing LIS1 gene causes severe mental retardation. Full Article

When someone speaks to you, do you see what they are saying? We tend to think of speech as being something we hear, but recent studies suggest that we use a variety of senses for speech perception - that speech is not meant to be just heard, but also to be seen. A new report describes research examining how our different senses blend together to Full Article

It is estimated that three to six out of every 1,000 children in the United States have autism -- and the number of diagnosed cases is rising. Autism is one of a group of series developmental problems called autism spectrum disorders that appear in early childhood, usually before age 3. Through symptoms and severity vary, all autism disorders Full Article

The New York Times recently published an article by Jane Brody titled “Trying Anything and Everything for Autism.” It chronicles one family’s trials and tribulations for finding effective treatment for their son with autism, including speech therapy, a dairy-free diet and gluten-free diet, supplements, and behavioral intervention. The Full Article

First month of Pregnancy Forms the Basis for Disrupted Development Schizophrenia and autism probably share a common origin, hypothesises Dutch researcher Annemie Ploeger following an extensive literature study. The developmental psychologist demonstrated that both mental diseases have similar physical abnormalities which are formed during the Full Article

A study by researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute has found that the seven- to eight-fold increase in the number children born in California with autism since 1990 cannot be explained by either changes in how the condition is diagnosed or counted — and the trend shows no sign of abating. Published in the Full Article

Advanced parental age does indeed appear to boost autism risk in children, and the risk is seen with both mothers and fathers, new research shows. “What we found was that actually it’s both parents age, and when you control for one parent’s age you still see the effect of the other parent’s age, and vice Full Article

Autism and obsessive-compulsive disorders may be linked to factors other than genetics, despite widely held beliefs otherwise, according to a study published Wednesday in the American journal Neuron. When researchers removed the protein FKBP12, found in both humans and mice, from studied mice, the animals demonstrated major neurological and Full Article

What to Do if You Don’t Want Your Child to Get 8 Vaccines at Once From US News & World Report, by Deborah Kotz The vaccine schedule that most pediatricians follow, recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, takes a one-size-fits-all approach since that’s what’s best for protecting the population at large. Full Article

From US News & World Report by Nancy Shute Having a child with autism can be a huge financial strain, with 52 percent of parents saying the family’s finances are drained. Three quarters of parents of children with autism worry that their child won’t ever get a job or won’t have enough money to get by Full Article