autism

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'Pulling Back the Curtain' on Autism? Experts Not So Sure

They say RFK Jr.'s plan to do so is flawed, as it doesn't take genetics into account

(Newser) - For many experts, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s promise for "pulling back the curtain" to find autism's causes in a few months is jarring—and unrealistic. That's because it appears to ignore decades of science linking about 200 genes that play a role, and...

Advocates Sound the Alarm on RFK Jr.'s Potential 'Autism Registry'

NIH apparently planning to bring together private medical records of many Americans

(Newser) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has pledged to uncover the cause of autism within months, and as part of that effort, CBS News reports the National Institutes of Health will be "amassing" the private medical records of Americans in order to study the condition. The outlet says a "disease...

RFK Jr. Promised Autism Answers by September. NIH Says No

NIH pushes back the timeline laid out by HHS secretary

(Newser) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promised that by September, we'd know "what has caused the autism epidemic," but the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday said it won't quite be that quick. "We're going to get hopefully grants out the door by the end...

RFK Jr.: Here's Why Autism 'Dwarfs COVID'

HHS secretary has made multiple controversial comments about autistic kids in recent days

(Newser) - Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made multiple headlines in recent days thanks to his controversial comments on autism , most recently on Sunday when he compared autism to the COVID pandemic during an interview on a radio show. "It dwarfs the COVID epidemic and the impacts on our country because...

Idaho Cops Fatally Shot Autistic Teen With Knife Within Seconds

Protests erupt over police actions in Idaho boy's shooting

(Newser) - Idaho police on Thursday released video footage showing the fatal April 5 shooting of Victor Perez, a 17-year-old intellectually disabled boy. Perez, who had autism, cerebral palsy, and was nonverbal, was wielding a knife during a confrontation with family members in his yard when a neighbor mistakenly reported him...

CDC: 1 in 31 8-Year Olds Has Autism
CDC: 1 in 31
8-Year Olds
Has Autism
Apr 15, 2025 3:23 PM CDT

CDC: 1 in 31 8-Year Olds Has Autism

That's a big jump from just 2 years earlier

(Newser) - Autism diagnoses jumped significantly between 2020 and 2022, and they have surged massively since 2000, according to the latest Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report . According to the report released Tuesday, an estimated one in 31 8-year-olds was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder in 2022, up from an estimated...

Mom's Diabetes Tied to Higher Risk of ADHD, Autism in Kids

Risk of intellectual disability rises 32%, according to meta-analysis

(Newser) - Diabetes prevention, screening, and treatment is "critically important" to the health of a woman, "but also her child," one expert affirms as a new meta-analysis finds children born to mothers with diabetes are 28% more likely to be diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder. The study, using data...

CDC to Launch New Search for Vaccines-Autism Link

Agency cites Trump's speech to Congress

(Newser) - In spite of a body of scientific evidence that vaccines do not cause autism, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is launching a new study to look for a link. "As President Trump said in his Joint Address to Congress, the rate of autism in American children has...

Kanye West: I'm Not Bipolar, I Have Autism

Rapper says wife Bianca Censori helped him get second opinion on misdiagnosis

(Newser) - Bianca Censori may have caused a lot of eyes to bug out over the weekend with her nude look on the Grammys red carpet, but husband Kanye West credits her with opening his eyes in another way. The award-winning rapper who's found himself embroiled over the years in various...

Bill Gates: My Divorce Is 'Mistake I Regret the Most'

He also thinks he would be placed on the autism spectrum if he were a student today

(Newser) - Bill Gates is making the rounds plugging his upcoming autobiography, Source Code My Beginnings , and he tells the Wall Street Journal that he is sure he would be placed on the autism spectrum were he a child in school today. "There's a bit of a pattern match there,...

Better Way to Diagnose Autism May Lie in the Gut
Better Way to Diagnose
Autism May Lie in the Gut
new study
Jul 9, 2024 12:27 PM CDT

Better Way to Diagnose Autism May Lie in the Gut

Study suggests children on the spectrum have unique microbial markers

(Newser) - Diagnosing autism remains a tricky, subjective task, one that relies largely on observation and analysis. A new study suggests that might change in a big way—with future patients diagnosed through a stool sample, reports the Guardian . A study of more than 1,600 children ages 1 to 13 found...

He Wanted to 'Forget' His Life, Until He Got a Diagnosis

John Paul Scotto writes about learning at 35 that he was autistic

(Newser) - John Paul Scotto has become obsessed with many things—among them internet poker, drinking, and movies—and one of those movies was Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Like Jim Carrey's character in the film, there was a time when Scotto wanted to forget things—in his case, as...

Glasses Found in Search for Teen Last Seen in February

Sebastian Rogers, 15, apparently vanished from his bedroom in Hendersonville, Tennessee

(Newser) - A pair of glasses has been found in the search for a glasses-wearing Tennessee teenager with autism, last seen 40 days ago. Sebastian Rogers, 15, was last seen Feb. 25 at his home in Hendersonville, a city 10 miles northeast of Nashville. His mother said she went to wake him...

The Globe's Leading Ailments Are in Our Heads
The Globe's Leading
Illnesses Are in Our Heads
NEW STUDY
Mar 18, 2024 9:13 AM CDT

The Globe's Leading Illnesses Are in Our Heads

Neurological conditions like stroke, dementia affect 43% of global population, per new research

(Newser) - The leading cause of all ill health and disability around the globe isn't cancer or heart disease—it's a wide umbrella of neurological conditions, ranging from migraines to strokes, dementia, or Parkinson's, among other maladies. Per a new study published Thursday in the Lancet , scientists found that...

California Boy, 15, Wielding Garden Tool Is Killed by Deputy

Deputies were called to family disturbance in San Bernardino County

(Newser) - San Bernardino County sheriff's deputies were called to a domestic disturbance in southern California's Apple Valley just before 5pm Saturday, and the incident ended with a 15-year-old boy fatally shot by a deputy. Authorities say the teen, Ryan Gainer, was allegedly assaulting family members and damaging property at...

Missing Autistic Teen Found 200 Miles Away From Home

13-year-old boy went missing from home in Tucson, turns up in New Mexico

(Newser) - A missing teen with autism has been found in New Mexico—about 200 miles away from his home in southern Arizona, according to New Mexico State Police. The 13-year-old, Marcus Tessier, turned up at a Walmart in Deming on Tuesday after going missing the night before from his family's...

See the Moment Deputies Find 5-Year-Old Lost in Swamp

Outcome could 'have been much different,' says Florida sheriff

(Newser) - Florida police helped deliver a happy ending to a terrifying situation that began Monday evening when a 5-year-old girl with autism walked away from her home near Tampa. "The panic starts to kick in," Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister tells ABC News of the moment parents realized the...

Donald Triplett Was First Person to Be Diagnosed With Autism

Parents' 22-page assessment of their son set a standard for researchers

(Newser) - The Mississippi man known as "Case 1," the first person to be diagnosed with autism, has died. Donald Triplett was the subject of a book titled In a Different Key, a PBS documentary film, BBC news magazine installment and countless medical journal articles. But to employees at the...

Autism Advocates Starting to Dread 2024 Election

Steve Bannon's line that DeSantis is 'on the spectrum' raises concerns about stigma

(Newser) - Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is frequently described as "awkward" when it comes to schmoozing with voters—see this New York Times story describing him in Iowa—so much so that it seems to have become an accepted truth on the 2024 campaign trail. In fact, wife Casey DeSantis is...

His Autism Left Him Isolated, Unemployable. Then, Hope

ProPublica reports on the innovative ITvitae program

(Newser) - By the CDC's count , 1 in 44 8-year-olds were diagnosed with having an autism spectrum disorder in 2018. As Renee Dudley writes for ProPublica , those children eventually become job-seeking adults, and in great numbers. And while there are programs that seek to employ people with autism whose focused and...

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