An analysis of DNA variants suggests the heritability of childhood behavior problems, including autism traits, is about 6 percent, researchers report in a new study1. When the same team looks at the heritability by analyzing twins, however, their estimate comes in at 50 percent. The low estimate is …

This is just one more unique way the Maasses celebrate their youngest family member and her differences.Source: The Autism Site

We need to listen to their voices.Source: The Autism Site

One of the exciting things about this publication process is the fact that my book is appearing all over the English-speaking world. This blog has a photo of the American cover, but that's not the only edition of the book.Look Me in the Eye is being published in Australia and New Zealand in October…

This is my last day at the Melbourne Writer's Festival.  I'll be doing my last program at 4PM, and then it's off the University of Western Australia in Perth.  Thanks to the organizers and sponsors for bringing me down here, and also to Antonia Hayes at Random House for setting everything …

Modern cars have standard machine readable vehicle identification (VIN) numbers.  Old cars have numbering methods that vary from one brand to the next.  In this essay I will show you what numbers look like on Rolls-Royce and Bentley motorcars from the 1970s Shadow through the 1990s Spur er…

I just finished a controversial new book, To Siri With Loveby Judith Newman. Reading this book made me feel like memoirs from autism moms are a thing whose time has come and gone . . .At the same time, I can’t help but believe the publisher who brought this story to market, and the reviewers who pra…

(c) 2007-2011 John Elder RobisonSource: Raising Cubby

I am pleased to announce the first-ever change in the style of this blog.  I hope you find it more accessible and usable. Circus at The Big E, West Springfield, MAJohn Rando's Long Wheelbase Shadow restoration takes 1st at the RROC National MeetFlowers in the GardenOn the big stage, Big EVolcan…

Meeting of the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) Please join us for an IACC Full Committee meeting that will take place on Wednesday, January 17, 2018 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. ET at the Bethesda Marriott Hotel, 5151 Pooks Hill Road, Bethesda, MD 20814. Onsite registr…

The excessive volume of commercials has struck everyone who’s watched television.  You’re watching a show at a comfortable volume, and there’s a commercial break, and suddenly you are blasted out of your seat.  If you had the volume on 5 it feels like it just went up to 100, all by itself.…

The post Pollutant surprise; monkey clones; researchers rattled and more appeared first on Spectrum | Autism Research News. Source: Spectrum News

The drug rapamycin, which is in clinical trials for tuberous sclerosis (TSC), exacerbates features of fragile X syndrome, another condition related to autism, a new study suggests1. Rapamycin increases anxiety, shortens sleep and worsens social skills in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, the rese…

Here's what this piece of legislation will do...Source: The Autism Site