There’s a new study by Molly Helt et al. out about recovery from autism in the December Neuropsychology Review. Kev at Left Brain/Right Brain has an overview; here’s the abstract:
Although Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are generally assumed to be lifelong, we review evidence that between 3% and 25% of children reportedly lose their ASD diagnosis and enter the normal range of cognitive, adaptive and social skills. Predictors of recovery include relatively high intelligence, receptive language, verbal and motor imitation, and motor development, but not overall symptom severity. Earlier age of diagnosis and treatment, and a diagnosis of Pervasive …read more

An article in the December Pediatrics examines the health care experiences of families with autistic children in the US. Researchers looked at a nationally representative 2005-06 survey of nearly 40,000 children with special health care needs; the children’s needs were “physical and mental,” and required medical care that was more than usual, yesterday’s Associated Press (via AZ Central) reports. 2,088 children of those children had autism.
The article is entitled A National Profile of the Health Care Experiences and Family Impact of Autism Spectrum Disorder Among Children in the United States, 2005–2006, by Michael D. Kogan, Bonnie B. Strickland, Stephen …read more

A new national strategy for screening for Down syndrome in Denmark has halved the number of Down Syndrome births and led to a 30% increase in infants diagnosed with the condition. The Danish National Board of Health issued guidelines for prenatal screening and diagnosis for Down Syndrome in 2004; these guidelines (from Science Daily)
included the offer of a combined test for Down Syndrome (based on combination of maternal age, plus serum and nuchal screening) in the first trimester. This test gave women a risk assessment for Down Syndrome at an early stage in the pregnancy. Women whose risk was higher …read more