As efforts expand to diagnose autism earlier and more accurately, researchers also are striving to figure out ways to treat children as young as 1 year old.

Specialists at the Kennedy Krieger Institute here, who focus on disorders of the brain, spinal cord and musculoskeletal system, are testing the use of early intervention groups to improve social and communication skills for 1- and 2-year-olds who are considered at high risk for autism and related disorders.

The Wall Street Journal

A mum from Leeds says the family's dog is helping her son cope better with his autism.

Nick Gilling has Asperger's syndrome and finds social situations difficult. He can struggle to strike up a conversation but all that has changed thanks to his new corgi called Sally.The pair of them are now virtually inseparable. They will play together - Nick is even trying to teach her to play cards. And When Nick wasn't keen on wearing his new school uniform he found it easier when Sally joined for the trip to class as well. They say a dog is man's best friend - and for Nick Gilling, that really seems to be true.

"It has long been known that autism is an umbrella term for a wide range of disorders that impair social and communication skills,” says Amy Kalkbrenner, assistant professor in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Joseph J. Zilber School of Public Health, lead author of the study. “What we are seeing is that some disorders on the autism spectrum, more than others, may be influenced by a factor such as whether a mother smokes during pregnancy.”

The study was published April 25 online by the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Newswise, Inc

A new highly-accurate web-based tool designed by researchers at Harvard University has the potential for reducing the complexity and time of the diagnostic process for ASD.

Additionally, autistic children who were born either preterm or post-term are more likely to self-injure themselves compared with autistic children born on time, revealed the study by Tammy Movsas of MSU's Department of Epidemiology.

Though the study did not uncover why there is an increase in autistic symptoms, the reasons may be tied to some of the underlying causes of why a child is born preterm (prior to 37 weeks) or post-term (after 42 weeks) in the first place.

The research appears online in the Journal of Autism and Development Disorders.

When Josh Tutin was three years old, he was diagnosed with autism so severe that experts believed it unlikely he would ever relate to other people.  Yet now the Bristol boy is a thoughtful, joyful nine-year-old who attends a mainstream school.

Has he grown out of his condition? New research by a prestigious American university claims that not only is this possible, it’s also common