Children with autism traits tend to show agitation, excitability, decreased sleep and other mild signs of mania in adolescence; the association is higher in identical twins than fraternal twins, suggesting that genetics plays a role.
Children with highly folded and curved brains in utero tend to show autism-linked behaviors at 18 months of age, according to a longitudinal brain-imaging study.
JASPER, a naturalistic social-communication intervention for autistic children, seems to increase child-initiated interactions, a key step in language development. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry
A catalog of RNA from single cells in the fetal striatum may unveil transcription hierarchies involved in early development. Science
Science and society
Writers Steve Silberman, Eric Garcia and Sara Luterman discuss the shift in thinking about autism that led to this year’s renaming of April as Autism Acceptance Month. 1A
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