The tendency of people with autism to partner with others on the spectrum may raise the condition’s prevalence within families and across the population, according to a new study1. Researchers used genetic modeling to estimate the impact of this ‘nonrandom mating’ pattern among individuals with auti…

There’s a new robot in town. Although it looks like any other toy robot, it is more of a companion, especially for children with Autism. Leka, the robot, encourages children with autism to develop social and motor skills by keeping them engaged and active. Leka has several apps that engage chi…

The road to treatments for fragile X syndrome is paved with solid facts and sound premises. But the syndrome — characterized by intellectual disability, hyperactivity, seizures and, often, autism — has so far resisted a pharmaceutical solution. In the past several years, multiple fragile X treatment…

Disability Rights are Human Rights The United Nations has proclaimed December 3 as the International Day of Persons with Disabilities. Today there are over 7 billion people on the planet. 15 percent of those people have a disability which makes over 1 billion people with disabilities. According to t…

There's a good reason why Aspect Hunter School in Sydney, Australia incorporates a small, robotic ball called Sphero into their lessons. And you can get one for your child!Source: The Autism Site

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Why would anyone vote against “cures,” especially “21st century cures?” That question is the key to understanding how the U.S. House of Representatives, whose members usually can’t agree on anything, overwhelmingly passed a 996-page health bill yesterday — just a few days after the bill, the 21st Ce…

There is a stigma associated with the lack of eye contact in communication. We are seen as rude and/or disinterested. I find it incredibly difficult to make eye contact for a few reasons. I’m hypersensitive to sight, sound, taste and touch which affects my communication greatly as I find it very dis…

This is for all autism parents who’ve once heard “your child has autism.” This comment from my experiences has came with different emotions for different people. Sadness of the uncertainty…Happiness about finally knowing what the diagnosis was… And often a neutral look where I cann…

The 21st Century Cures Act, which just passed a House vote yesterday in the U.S. Congress, is one of the most-lobbied healthcare bills in recent history, with nearly three lobbyists working for its passage or defeat for every member on Capitol Hill. More than 1,455 lobbyists representing 400 compani…

Harmful mutations in a set of top autism genes crop up in Chinese individuals about as often as they do in people of European ancestry1. The findings, published 8 November in Nature Communications, suggest that mutations in these genes lead to autism regardless of a person’s genetic background. “It’…

A Christmas Tale about the gift of music by Lori Jagow From my small apartment, the tune of “Good King Wenceslas” blared from my son’s shiny brass trumpet. My eight year old son, Jimmy, practiced for his first Christmas concert in the school orchestra. Jimmy is autistic and his music teacher recomme…

Deque.com, a company that sells software to make the web accessible, published a very helpful infographic a few months ago which explains what is digital accessibility,  kind of disabilities that  affect web browsing, and why web accessibility is so important.  57 Million Americans are living with …

It doesn't take them long to figure out that these strangers are actually just new buddies to play with!Source: The Autism Site