Developmental/Behavioral Disorders

Children who are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) during their toddler years may be able lose the designation as they grow up but will continue to have certain ongoing behavioral and special education needs, according to a new study.

Fewer than half of children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were receiving behavior therapy just before the American Academy of Pediatrics released clinical practice guidelines in 2011, according to the first national study of behavior therapy, medication, and dietary supplements to treat ADHD in children aged 4 to 17 years.

Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder affects 7.2% of children worldwide, a new meta-analysis estimates.

The usual 10 to 20 minutes allotted to a well-child visit may not allow enough time to pick up atypical behaviors that point to autism risk.

Many pediatricians fail to provide diagnosis and treatment that meet American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a recent study reports.

Children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder are more likely than their peers to develop problems with substance abuse, the American Academy of Pediatrics says in a new clinical report that outlines strategies for reducing the risk.

Do we all need to wake up to the relationship between attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and sleep deficits in our patients?

Investigators examined the neocortical architecture of the cortex of children with autism using postmortem analysis of the expression patterns of 25 cortical genes in 11 children aged from 2 to 15 years with autism and comparing them with the patterns of 11 children without autism.

Acetaminophen use during pregnancy may be linked to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in offspring.

Compared with children without autism spectrum disorder (ASD), children with ASD have significantly altered levels of certain bacteria-produced gut metabolites that affect brain function, according to a small study presented as a poster presentation at this year’s American Society for Microbiology meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more than 4 times as likely to suffer from gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms as children without the disorder, according to a new meta-analysis.

As of 2010, 1 in every 68 children aged 8 years had autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to new data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This is up from 1 in 88 in 2008; 1 in 110 in 2006; and it’s up 123% from 2002 when 1 in every 150 children aged 8 years was diagnosed with ASD.

Researchers have found areas of disruption in the brains of young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), indicating that ASD originates sometime early in the prenatal period, according to a new small explorative study.

Roberto Fernández Galán, PhD, assistant professor, Department of Neurosciences, at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, Ohio, discusses his study on the "noisy brain" of children with autism with Karen Donley-Hayes.

There is growing evidence that nutrition may play a role in managing symptoms of autism in some children. Here is a look at the current research supporting these nutritional interventions.

Researchers across the country and around the globe are using a technology to explore what children’s vocalizations tell us about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other intellectual disabilities (IDs).

“It is well known that autism has a strong genetic component; that’s indisputable, but my interpretation [of this latest study] is that environmental insult also has a very strong effect.” The remark comes from Andrey Rzhetsky, PhD, Pritzker Scholar and professor of Genetic Medicine and Human Genetics at the University of Chicago, Illinois.

Although evidence suggests there are no consistent differences in prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) according to race or ethnicity, there is also abundant research demonstrating racial/ethnic disparities in the diagnosis of ASDs.

Contemporary Pediatrics was already a 4-year-old toddler in 1980 when autism was first listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), the bible of US psychiatry.

Among the most vexing challenges of autism is its very diagnosis.

Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) are etiologically complex. Evidence that the origin begins in utero has made maternal conditions as risk factors during pregnancy the focus of increasing research.

Researchers think they now know why children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) exhibit the hallmark symptom of withdrawing into their own inner world: They are paying attention to all the information their brains are processing while they are seemingly at rest.

About one-third of parents of children with autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders try complementary and alternative forms of medicine (CAM), and those that do tend to be wealthier and more highly educated, according to a recent study.

A single intranasal spray of the naturally occurring hormone oxytocin improves function in areas of the brain associated with social interaction in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), according to a new study.

Computer-based cognitive training programs that claim to improve things such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity, and academic and social success in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) probably don’t live up to those promises.

An investigation of the combined risks of adolescence, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and driving while engaged in texting or cell phone conversation found that while distractions significantly impair the driving performance of all adolescents, the negative effects of texting are especially prominent in youngsters with ADHD.

It seems that signs of autism may surface in infants aged as young as 2 months, which would be the earliest known indicator of social disability, according to a recent study.

With the prevalence of, and prescriptions for, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) rising steeply in the past decade, experts are looking at whether current diagnostic practices and definitions are helping or hindering the situation.

Motor skills are significantly related to adaptive behavior skills in young children with autism spectrum disorders, according to a recent study, suggesting that focusing on motor skills development should be part and parcel of early intervention programs.

A new study indicates that the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th Edition (DSM-5), was on the right track when it changed its autism symptom structure.