The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends autism spectrum disorder screening at the 18- and 24-month well-child visits. However, despite widespread toddler screening, many children are not diagnosed until school age, and delayed diagnosis is more common among low-income and minority children. Offering autism spectrum disorder screening at…

Empathy is an essential component of human social life. It requires the ability to understand another's mental state and respond with an appropriate emotion or action. Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have been described to exhibit atypical empathic responses which limit communication and social interactions. This review highlights…

This evidence-based practice overview on Cognitive Behavioral Intervention includes the following components: (1) Overview: A quick summary of salient features of the practice, including what it is, who it can be used with, what skills it has been used with, and settings for instruction; (2) Evidence-base: The "CBI Evidence-base" details…

The etiology of autism spectrum disorders is unknown but there are claims of increasing prevalence in many countries. Despite more than a decade of epidemiological investigation, it is still unclear whether the rising trend in prevalence reflects a true increase or changes in diagnostic trends and improvements in case ascertainment. This paper…

The hidden curriculum, the unwritten rules and standards for social conduct that most people take for granted and learn more or less automatically, poses a challenge for many individuals on the autism spectrum because of deficits in social cognition and social interaction skills. Compounding challenges are cultural factors, such as age, ethnicity,…

Each year the members of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee identify recent research findings that made the most impact on the field. For the 2009 Summary of Advances, the IACC selected and summarized 20 studies that gave significant insight into the prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the biology of the disorder, potential…

The research examined the peer relations of autistic children and adults. In the first study, six autistic males (ages 6-21 years) were observed over a 1-year period. Results indicated that statistically significant improvements in peer relations were not observed over the 1-year period. Subsequently the peer relations of 11 autistic persons (ages…

Cognitive and language skills of 39 siblings of children with autism (SIBS-A) and 39 siblings of typically developing children (SIBS-TD) at ages 4, 14, 24, 36, and 54 months were compared. Twelve of the 39 SIBS-A revealed a delay in cognition and/or language (including one child diagnosed with autism) compared to only two SIBS-TD. Developmental…

The interrelationship between the Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (ADI-R), Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule-Generic (ADOS-G) and clinical classification was studied in 184 children and adolescents with Mental Retardation (MR). The agreement between the ADI-R and ADOS-G was fair, with a substantial difference between younger and older…