Autism, features and articles | Educational Science

Apr 14, 2015

Gestational Diabetes May Be Tied to Autism in Children

Women who develop gestational diabetes early in their pregnancy have a higher chance of having a child with autism than women who don't develop the condition, a new study suggests. Researchers found that mothers-to-be who developed gestational diabetes — high blood sugar during pregnancy in women who have never had...

May 1, 2015

Child Prodigies and Autism: Is There a Genetic Link?

Child prodigies may share certain genetic traits with people who have autism, new research suggests. The finding could help explain why the two groups share certain characteristics, such as exceptionally good memories. But the small number of child prodigies studied makes the findings preliminary, other scientists said. In the study,...

May 6, 2015

Autism Truths and Myths: The State of the Science (Op-Ed)

Francesca Happé is president of the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) and director of the MRC Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry Centre at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Autism is everywhere....

Nov 12, 2015

1 in 45 US Kids Has an Autism Spectrum Disorder

About 1 in 45 children in the United States has an autism spectrum disorder, according to a new government estimate of the condition's prevalence in 2014. This new report is based on data collected during the yearly National Health Interview Survey, from interviews of parents about their children, and is...

Dec 14, 2015

Antidepressants May Raise Autism Risk in Later Pregnancy Stages

Women in a new study who took antidepressants during their second and third trimesters of pregnancy showed an 87 percent increased risk of having a child with an autism spectrum disorder, compared with women who did not take medications for depression while expecting. The researchers also found that mothers who...

Dec 22, 2015

Do Girls Have 'Protection' from Autism? (Op-Ed)

Alycia Halladay, chief science officer for the Autism Science Foundation, contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. For years, scientists have reported a higher autism prevalence in males than in females. But do girls actually hold the key to future breakthroughs in autism research? Most studies...

Jan 29, 2016

Autism Risk Linked to Obesity, Diabetes Combination in Moms

Children born to women with obesity and diabetes may have an increased risk of autism, a new study suggests. The children in the study who were born to women who were obese before becoming pregnant were nearly twice as likely to be diagnosed with autism by age 6, compared with...

Feb 10, 2016

Low B12 Seen in Aging, Autism and Schizophrenia

The brains of the elderly and younger people with autism and schizophrenia may share a common link: Both have low levels of vitamin B12, researchers say. The facts that blood levels of B12 do not always mirror brain levels of the vitamin, and that brain levels decrease more over the...

Feb 24, 2016

Ignore the Bad Advice — All Kids Need Autism Screening (Op-Ed)

Alycia Halladay is the chief science officer of the Autism Science Foundation. She contributed this article to Live Science's Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Universal screening for autism improves the lives of kids with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other developmental disorders. This practice needs to continue uninterrupted, despite a...

Mar 7, 2016

The Experimenters: Temple Grandin on the Autistic Brain

David Gerlach is the executive producer of Blank on Blank, which brings new life to classic interviews, and the founder of Quoted Studios, a nonprofit dedicated to animated journalism. This original text highlights the video about Temple Grandin that originally appeared at Blank on Blank. He contributed this article to...

May 11, 2016

Autism Risk Linked to High Folate Levels in Pregnancy

Pregnant women who get too much folic acid may be more likely to have a child with autism, a new study suggests. The researchers found that new mothers in the study who had very high levels of folate in their blood (greater than 59 nanomoles per liter) shortly after giving...

May 12, 2016

Autism: Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatments

Autism spectrum disorder is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects a person's ability to communicate, interact and behave appropriately with others in social situations. Approximately 1 in 68 children in the United States has autism, and the condition is about five times more common in boys than in girls, according to...

Jan 11, 2017

Why Vaccine Myths Persist: Trump Team References Debunked Autism Link

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist, told reporters on Jan. 10 that President-elect Donald Trump asked him to chair a commission on vaccine safety, CNN reported. While Trump's team denied making the specific request that Kennedy referenced, a spokeswoman said that Trump is considering forming a commission on autism,...

Mar 6, 2017

How Brain Scans in Infants May Predict Autism

Brain scans of infants as young as 6 months old may be able to predict whether a child will develop autism, a new study suggests. In the study, researchers found that infants who later developed autism had higher amounts of cerebrospinal fluid — the clear liquid that cushions the brain...

Mar 9, 2017

New Policies Would Threaten Autism Research, Experts Say

The falsehood that vaccines cause autism has regained traction since the election of President Donald Trump, and this misinformation may leave Americans blind to a real risk: a loss of health and learning services for people with autism that will result from the coming changes in health care and cuts...