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blogLet me first apologize for not having updated the blog in a few days. I was away getting married last weekend, while news in the world of autism piled up...
Last month, while I was distracted, researchers reported in the journal Developmental Cell that the protein that’s missing in those with fragile...→
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blogIn the past few days, the New York Times has run a couple of articles featuring people with autism.
This isn’t unusual in of itself, except that neither article ran in the health section. And both take a compassionate look at individuals who struggle with autism in profound ways.
The first, which ran...→
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spotlightIn the late 1960s, as an undergraduate student in psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, Cathy Lord spent a couple of hours a day teaching two young boys with autism.
She was working for clinical psychologist Ole Ivar Lovaas, one of a few doctors who believed in behavioral therapy for...→
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newsThe so-called trust hormone oxytocin could prove to be an effective treatment for autism, but it’s premature for parents to be dosing their kids with the hormone, researchers warn.
Giving people oxytocin has shown that the hormone boosts the willingness to trust others. Animal studies and small clinical trials have also linked...→
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newsIn February 2006, psychology researcher Gary Mesibov introduced an electronic diary to a few teens with autism at his clinic in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
The diary, a personal digital assistant (PDA), was programmed to help the teens track their performance in school and interact with their peers. Mesibov and his collaborators...→
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newsThe gene underlying Rett syndrome has a surprisingly large role in controlling the activity of other genes, according to two recent papers.
The findings have dismayed some researchers, who say the condition may be more difficult to treat than previously thought.
Rett syndrome is a rare neurological condition that shares some symptoms, such...→
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newsRepetitive behaviors seen in adults with autism are associated with abnormal activity in the ‘executive’ brain system, which is responsible for attention, planning and for inhibiting inappropriate behaviors, according to an imaging study published in May1.
About 80 percent of adults with autism exhibit restricted or repetitive behavior such as hand...→
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