Top Ten 2012 | Autism Speaks

In 2012, autism dominated headlin... More...

American Psychiatric Association approves DSM-5 changes; autism advocates call for further study

Clinical study of Early Start Denver Model intervention shows that it improves not only social skills, but also brain responses to social cues

Young adults with autism less likely than any other disability group to be employed or enrolled in higher education

Researchers produce autism behaviors in mice by mimicking infection during pregnancy; reverse symptoms by resetting offspring’s immune system

Training classmates produces greater gains in social inclusion than even one-on-one training between therapist and child

Compound advances into larger clinical trials; could pave the way for other future medicines as well

Continuing increase in prevalence reaffirms public-health crisis

Many arise spontaneously in germ cells; may explain why autism risk higher among children of older fathers

The year brought advances in understanding whether and how chemical pollutants affect brain development in ways that may predispose to autism