It’s not like having a diagnosis for tuberculosis. In fact, when I worked on the [part of the book about the] history of the DSM and I saw how it was laid out, how it changed over the years, it’s really pretty shocking. It’s probably half-based in science and half-based in doctors sitting around a conference room table in a hotel squabbling.

Do you think there is more autism now than there used to be or are we just better at recognizing it?

I think on the mild end of the spectrum most of it’s increased detection because I’ve worked with so many folks my age that I know are on the spectrum that are undiagnosed. And I think there’s some mental retardation—what used to be labeled mental retardation— that has gotten labeled autism. But I think there’s some actual severe autism that actually has increased.

Sensory issues, like being disturbed by sudden, loud noises or itchy clothing are a big part of your experience as an autistic person. Why do you think sensory issues have not received as much study as other aspects of autism?

Q: What symptoms should parents watch for if they are worried a young child may have autism? Is it possible to diagnose autism before age 2?

A: With careful evaluation by an expert, diagnosing a child younger than 2 with autism is possible. More often, however, autism is identified in children between the ages of 2 and 3. The signs and symptoms of autism vary quite a bit, depending on the severity of the disease and the individual child. But it is important that parents understand and watch for symptoms of autism. Early diagnosis and treatment can make a big difference in a child's ability to manage autism.

Autism is a serious developmental disorder that affects a child's ability to communicate and interact with others. For reasons that are not clear, the disease is three to four times more common in boys than it is in girls.

In general, autism affects three areas of a child's development: language, social interaction and behavior. Some children may show symptoms of autism in early infancy. Others develop normally for the first several months or years of life, with symptoms appearing later. Most children with autism have significant symptoms by the time they reach their third birthday.

All children develop at their own pace. A child who, for example, doesn't begin to talk at the same time his or her peers do, or who doesn't interact with other children the way a sibling did at the same age does not necessarily have autism. There are some behaviors parents should watch for, though, that could signal a problem.

If an infant does not make eye contact, does not seem to enjoy the touch of a parent, or resists holding and cuddling, that may be a concern. By their first birthdays, most children smile, giggle and laugh when another person is laughing. When someone points, they look in that direction. Children also typically babble and coo, and mimic sounds and facial expressions by their first birthdays. If a child does not show these behaviors by the time they are 1, it may be a sign something is wrong.

In children between the ages of 1 and 3, some additional common symptoms of autism include repetitive movements, such as flapping their hands, rocking or spinning. They may get particularly upset when routines change or during times of transition. Many children who have autism do not engage in make-believe or other types of play that involve imagination. They may not speak, or their speech development may be delayed.

If you suspect your child is showing symptoms of autism, make an appointment to see your child's doctor. In many cases, a team of medical professionals who are familiar with autism work with children and parents to do a formal evaluation that assesses a child for the disease. This evaluation may include developmental tests that cover speech, language, behavior, communication and social interaction.

If a child does have autism, early diagnosis is critical. Although there is no cure for autism, interventions can be helpful in developing language, managing behavior, dealing with social interactions and learning other crucial skills. Because a young child's brain has great capacity for learning, the sooner these interventions start, the greater and better their impact is likely to be.

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For the first time in more than a decade, a new version of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders will be unveiled this weekend and with it comes major change to the way autism is diagnosed.

The American Psychiatric Association is releasing the fifth edition of the DSM at its annual meeting beginning Saturday in San Francisco. The new version marks the first major update since 1994 of the so-called psychiatric bible which is relied on by everyone from mental health professionals to researchers and insurers to determine what symptoms merit a diagnosis.

Among the most controversial changes to the manual is its updated definition of autism. The psychiatric association decided to eliminate the diagnosis of Asperger’s syndrome and instead fold it as well as childhood disintegrative disorder and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified into the broader category of “autism spectrum disorder,” with clinicians indicating a level of severity.

Changes were also made to the way autism will be diagnosed, which led to concern that some with the developmental disorder could lose the label entirely and, with it, needed services.

In an effort to quell such worries, the new DSM includes a note specifying that “individuals with a well-established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger’s disorder or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder,” according to an advance copy of the autism entry provided to Disability Scoop.

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The study, which was published online in the APA journalBehavioral Neuroscience, involved 28 autistic boys, ages 3 to 12. Researchers placed the boys in two groups based on their age and autism severity. For six months, both groups participated in standard behavioral therapy but boys in one of the groups also underwent daily environmental enrichment exercises.

Parents of each of the 13 boys in the enrichment group received a kit that contained essential oil fragrances such as apple, lavender, lemon and vanilla to stimulate sense of smell. For touch, the kit contained squares of plastic doormat, smooth foam, a rubber sink mat, aluminum, fine sandpaper, felt and sponges. The kit also included pieces of carpet, hard flooring, pillows, cardboard and bubble wrap that parents laid on the floor to create a multi-textured walking path. Items for the children to manipulate included a piggy bank with plastic coins, miniature plastic fruits and a small fishing pole with a magnetic hook. Many household items were also used, such as bowls for holding water at different temperatures for the child to dip in a hand or foot and metal spoons that parents would warm or cool and touch to the child’s skin.

Researchers instructed the parents of children in the enrichment group to conduct two sessions a day of four to seven exercises involving different combinations of sensory stimuli for touch, temperature, sight and movement. Each session took 15 to 30 minutes to complete. The children also listened to classical music once a day.

Following six months of therapy, 42 percent of the children in the enrichment group significantly improved in behaviors such as relating to people and responding to sights and sounds, compared to 7 percent of the standard care group, according to the study. The children in the enrichment group also improved on scores for cognitive function, which covers aspects of perception and reasoning, whereas the average scores for the children in the standard care group decreased. In addition, 69 percent of parents in the enrichment group reported improvement in their child’s overall autism symptoms, compared to 31 percent of parents of the standard care group, the authors wrote.

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THE idea that those with autism find faces harder to process than other visual stimuli has been challenged in a study by the University of Western Australia.

Research published in the Journal of Experimental Child Psychology, assessed face selectivity and face-processing difficulties in children and adolescents with and without autism.

The team examined discrimination of, and memory for, faces, cars, and inverted faces.

Overall, typically developing children and adolescents without autism performed better than young people with autism.

However, all participants performed significantly worse with identifying pictures of inverted faces compared to upright faces and cars.

Crucially, children and adolescents with autism found cars to be just as difficult to remember as upright faces.

Previous studies have suggested that face perception is selectively, or disproportionately, affected in autism, and this is attributed to reduced social interest and motivation.

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For those of you not familiar with bipolar disorder, it’s a mood disorder once known as “manic depression.” Persons with bipolar disorder alternate between a frenzied state known as mania and episodes of depression. While some individuals experience only the manic episodes, many affected individuals rapidly alternate between these two states and experience great irritability.

As with other psychiatric disorders, studies suggest that bipolar disorder may be relatively common among children and adults with autism. Some studies have found that as many as 27 percent of those with autism also have symptoms of bipolar disorder. By contrast, its prevalence in the general population is around 4 percent.

However, we believe that bipolar disorder is mistakenly over-diagnosed in those with autism. In part this is because some of their symptoms can overlap.

If you have a picky eater with autism, know that you’re not alone. A recent review of scientific studies found that children with autism are five times more likely to have mealtime challenges such as extremely narrow food selections, ritualistic eating behaviors (e.g. no foods can touch) and meal-related tantrums.

Meanwhile, the lead researcher of this new project – psychologist Emily Kuschner, PhD, of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) – recommends the following strategies to gently expand the diet of picky eaters with autism. (CHOP is a member of Autism Speaks Autism Treatment Network.)

#1 Rule Out Medical Problems

If your child is clamping her lips shut when offered a certain food, it may be that she knows it will make her stomach hurt. Gastrointestinal distress is common among children with autism, many of whom can’t easily describe their distress. Your child’s doctor can help you figure out if this is the case and how to deal with it.

#2 Stay Calm

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There has been much discussion of twin studies in autism research for a long time. The reason is that if is found that “identical” (monozygotic) twins are often both autistic, that points to genetics as a major influence on the development of autism. For many years it was thought that this rate, the concordance, was about 90%. In other words, if one child is autistic, 90% of the time the other child is autistic. This was based on a number of older, small studies. More recently, a relatively large study showed a lower concordance: about 77% for ASD and 60% for autism. From this the authors claimed that the genetic contribution to autism risk was lower than previously thought, and that the environmental contribution was higher (about 55% environmental contribution).

A study just out from Denmark claims a concordance more in line with the older studies–95%. In A Danish population-based twin study on autism spectrum disorders., the authors write:

Read more here.

Children with autism see simple movement twice as quickly as other children their age, according to a new study.

Scientists think this this hypersensitivity to motion may provide clues to what causes the disorder.

The findings may explain why some people suffering with autism are sensitive to bright lights and loud noises.

‘We think of autism as a social disorder because children with this condition often struggle with social interactions, but what we sometimes neglect is that almost everything we know about the world comes from our senses.

'Abnormalities in how a person sees or hears can have a profound effect on social communication,' says Duje Tadin, one of the lead authors on the study and an assistant professor of brain and cognitive sciences at the University of Rochester.

Babies born either very small or very large have a higher risk of developing autism, according to the largest ever study into the issue.

Researchers found that bigger babies - those born weighing over 9lb 14oz (4.5kg) - showed a higher incidence of autism, as did smaller infants who were born weighing less than 2.5kg or 5lb 5oz.

It is the first time that a clear link has been made between babies who grow to above average size at birth and risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).