Young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are usually given some kind of behavioural or educational intervention to help improve their overall functioning. However, in some cases, those individuals who have high levels of repetitive, obsessive-compulsive type behaviours and mood disorders are treated with drug interventions, although there is little high quality evidence to support [read the full story…]
Previous research has highlighted that people with autism spectrum disorders may be deficit in omega-3 fatty acids and that taking supplements may help to improve the symptoms of the condition. This new Cochrane systematic review set out to review the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acids for improving core features of autism spectrum disorder (e.g. social [read the full story…]
Adults with severe learning disability also have a greater likelihood of having autism according to a new report published by the NHS Information Centre. The report combines data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 with findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in private households [read the full story…]
Adults with a more severe learning disability also have a greater likelihood of having autism according to a new report published by the NHS Information Centre. The report combines data from the Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey (APMS) 2007 with findings from a new study based on a sample of people with learning disabilities living in [read the full story…]
Our colleagues at the Mental Elf found this large cohort study from California which explored the risk of autism in children of families with one child already diagnosed with the condition. Previous research estimated the risk to be between 3-10%, but this evidence was always regarded as unreliable. This study looked siblings of children [read the full story…]
Parents who have a child with autism are understandably often very keen to find out the risk of subsequent children also having the condition. Until now, research studies estimated the risk to be between 3-10%, but this evidence was regarded as quite unreliable. This cohort study conducted by researchers in California is the largest prospective [read the full story…]
The researchers in this study set out to investigate the rates and types of co-morbid disorders in a group of 84 young people (mean age 19.5 years) with autism. They assessed mental disorder with a semi-structured comprehensive clinical interview with the participants and with caregivers and also used quantitative questionnaires. The diagnoses were made according [read the full story…]
Around 1% of the population have autism. There are a number of treatments available for the condition, including learning and development techniques, as well as medical interventions. However, there is little consensus about which drug treatments are most effective. A team of researchers from Nashville have recently published two systematic reviews in the Pediatrics journal, [read the full story…]
The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) have commissioned the National Collaborating Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health to produce a new guideline on the recognition, referral and diagnosis of children and young people on the autism spectrum. The guideline is aimed at GPs, paediatricians, psychiatrists, psychologists, speech and language therapists, occupational therapists [read the full story…]
This study set out to look at associations between psychiatric disorders in people with learning disabilities and challenging behaviours. The study used a large sample and controlled for sex, age, autism and degree of learning disability. The researchers used data from 47% of all people with learning disabilities who were known to and receiving services [read the full story…]
