ASF Grantee Matthew Maenner and colleagues developed the Waisman Activities of Daily Living (W-ADL) Scale to measure daily living skills of adolescents and adults with developmental disabilities. The scale is a free and efficient tool for surveys and epidemiological research.

A new study of autism published today in PLoS Genetics has discovered abnormal gene activity and gene deletions in the same brain region that also has a 67% overabundance of brain cells. This region – the prefrontal cortex—is involved in social, emotional, communication and language skills. The finding brings new understanding of what early genetic abnormalities lead to excess brain cells and to the abnormal brain wiring that cause core symptoms in autism. Importantly, the study also shows that gene activity abnormalities in autism change across the lifespan.

UCSD researchers suggest genes linked to autism have higher mutation rates than other genes.