Treatments

Important work from ASF SAB Member Kevin Pelphrey of the Yale Child Study Center.

Researchers in France found that children with autism who became pet owners after the age of 5 performed better than children without pets on two key measures of social functioning -- offering comfort and offering to share. Having a pet from birth did not appear to influence the socialization behaviors, leading the researchers to conclude that the arrival of a pet when a child is old enough to recognize the addition may be critical.

A specific antioxidant supplement containing N-Acetylcysteine, or NAC may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children's Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder.

National Institutes of Health researchers have reversed behaviors in mice resembling two of the three core symptoms of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). An experimental compound, called GRN-529, increased social interactions and lessened repetitive self-grooming behavior in a strain of mice that normally display such autism-like behaviors, the researchers say.

Researchers today also say they're beginning to make progress, perhaps for the first time, in understanding the autistic brain.