Autism

A world-recognised expert has dismissed celebrity chef Pete Evans' claim that the modern Australian diet is to blame for autism.

A photographer has captured the heartache of having a child with autism in a series of provocative images.

Barb Cook was just 14 years old when her mother was dragged off to an asylum because she had autism. For the next 25 years, Barb tried keep her own symptoms hidden from medical professionals until she was finally diagnosed with Asperger’s at 40. Here, she writes about her journey from terror to acceptance and […]

Eating disorders and behavioural disorders like autism are two of the biggest health issues plaguing teenagers, and researchers at the University of Cambridge may have found a link between the two. A new study has found teenage girls with obsessions with food and calorie counting share an above-average number of autistic traits — a neurodevelopmental […]

Exposure to traffic fumes and air pollution can double a mother’s risk of giving birth to a child with autism, a new study has found. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health found that contaminants in the air, particularly diesel and mercury, dramatically affect the chance of a child being born with an autism […]

A computer game that simulates the daily struggles of children who have autism has been released. The game — called “Auti-Sim” — mimics the symptoms of hypersensitivity that many people with autism experience, including blurred vision, people’s faces becoming distorted and noise rising to painful levels. It puts the user in the position of a […]

Children diagnosed with autism at a young age can “grow out of it”, a new study has found. The controversial research funded by the US National Institutes of Health challenges the long-held view that the condition is a permanent disorder that cannot be cured. A team of psychologists identified 34 children and young adults aged […]

Babies who are exposed to traffic pollution in the womb and in their first 12 months of life are more likely to develop autism, a new study has found. Researchers from the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California studied the air quality around the homes of 524 children, 279 with autism, […]

As scientists may have found an explanation for autism spectrum disorders, their robot counterparts are being trained up to help kids who are affected. Max and Ben, two knee-high robots, have been dancing, interacting and playing games with students at a Birmingham primary school since March and have had great success in developing the communication […]

Why is the number of children with autism doubling every five years? For Louise Milligan, the quest for an answer is deeply personal. There is no other way to describe the feeling, except to say I felt I had been shot. We were sitting in a psychologist’s office, being told that our son, our delicious […]