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The Science of Autism: My Top 5 Highlights From the Last Year in Research
Highlights from the last year in autism research
April is Autism Awareness Month and, in fact, president Obama declared April 2nd World Autism Awareness Day, recognizing that autism affects nearly one percent of children in the U.S. (1 in 70 boys) and proclaiming it a public health emergency.
This month is dedicated to learning more about children and adults with autism and throwing more weight behind initiatives like early intervention and research into its root causes.
So what have we learned recently about the biological steps that lead to autism? A lot, actually. Here is a look at 5 highlights from the last year in autism research:
1. The unfolding story of autism genes: The largest autism genetic initiative to date, the Autism Genome Project, released findings from their work. The project is the collaboration of 60 institutions and 120 collaborating scientists and has some of the most significant findings in autism’s genetic roots. For example, their findings have shown that people with autism are 20 percent more likely to have genetic hiccups called “copy number variants” in their DNA sequence.
2. The vaccine-autism story laid to rest (at least for now): Earlier this year, the British Medical Journal took the stance that Andrew Wakefield, who published the original research paper linking autism and vaccines, may have been involved in deliberate fraud.
3. Evidence points to why autism is seen more often in boys. For every one girl diagnosed with autism, there are four boys with the disorder. In February, scientists reported that they had zeroed in on a possible mechanism behind this — the key has to do with how a certain gene is turned on or off when exposed to male and female sex hormones.
4. An explanation for why autism and ADHD can overlap. Recently, I wrote in my column Science of Kids column about the genetic crossovers between autism and ADHD and why clinical symptoms often co-exist.
5. Closely-spaced siblings are at higher risk for autism. A surprising study in January of over half a million children showed that a second child born under two years from a younger sibling has a significantly increased risk for autism. The study was conducted by Columbia University researchers and published in the journal Pediatrics.
The story of autism spectrum disorders continues to unfold with the efforts of researchers, clinicians, educators, and parents. As we learn, the picture becomes ever more complex and nuanced — and we see just how unique each child with the diagnosis really is.
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5 Comments
[...] article highlights 5 very the past year’s promising areas of research. It is encouraging to see so [...]
Autism research continues | Nevada Equine Assisted Therapy commented on Apr 03 11 at 8:18 amMsFortune commented on Apr 03 11 at 10:39 amIt’s been a good year. Now that we have debunked and exposed the vaccine / autism link for the fraud that it is, we have freed up funds and research for real causes, based on real causes. Onward and upward!
Citizen Mom commented on Apr 03 11 at 11:12 amI just hope in the next year the focus will be on the desperate need for real treatment. The paucity of trained and available therapists has been eclipsed by the more headline grabbing debate of vaccines. In addition, I would hope to see more attention paid to the financial burden faced by families with ASD children, and how difficult it is to get help with those burdens.
Families may philosophically care about cause, but that does nothing to address the very real and often very scary day to day struggles they face.
heatherturgeon commented on Apr 03 11 at 1:05 pm@Msfortune: I agree, the vaccine question has clouded the real (much more complex) progress on contributors to autism. @citizen mom: so true. Here in california, families get a lot of support for young kids with the diagnosis (especially under 5) for early intervention — DTT, OT, parent support groups etc. I wonder how it compares to the rest of the country.
Citizen Mom commented on Apr 03 11 at 2:32 pmIt seems like Early Intervention programs in our state are great, but if your child was diagnosed after the age 3, many of those services don’t apply and they are limited. Families are in need of intense, long-term home-based therapy, one that teaches parents and ASD children to be able to function in life. Next, too many school districts are ill-equipped to address ASD children’s needs. Our school district is wonderful, but it does not have a program or even a philosophy for mainstreamed ASD children.
In addition, many ASD-related issues are not covered by private insurance and with state cuts, I’m betting there’ll be fewer services available.
Support groups can be a wonderful source of comfort and even a resource for services, but too often it’s a band-aid or many parents are simply not able to go.
Truly, I wish someone would do a Waiting for Superman type of documentary about families coping with ASD children and their herculean efforts to get proper services.
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