Abnormalities in auditory and language processing may be evaluated in children with autism spectrum disorder by using magnetoencephalography (MEG), according to a study presented today at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

Faint magnetic signals from brain activity in children with autism show that those children process sound and language differently from non-autistic children.

(London, UK) Autism campaigners in the United Kingdom have made a direct appeal to the Chancellor, Alistair Darling and Her Majesty's Treasury to reach out to the vulnerable, in his pre-budget report, released on Monday 24th November. The autism charity, the UK Autism Foundation has appealed to Chancellor Alistair Darling to help parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome cope with the recession and the credit crunch.

(London, UK) A leading autism campaigner in the House of Commons in the Palace of Westminster in London, Lee Scott MP for Ilford North has been shortlisted for the prestigious e-Politix Disability Champion Award for 2008. Scott has been a powerful advocate, speaking out in the British parliament on behalf of parents, carers, children and adults with autism and Asperger's Syndrome. He has championed the cause of autism in the House of Commons.

Researchers at the UC Davis M.I.N.D. Institute have found that infants later diagnosed with autism exhibited unusual exploration of objects long before being diagnosed.

Scientists have identified the first gene that is associated with a common childhood language disorder, known as specific language impairment (SLI). The gene – CNTNAP2 – has also been recently implicated in autism, and could represent a crucial genetic link between the two disorders.

(London, UK)A leading peer in the House of Lords, Baroness Uddin of Bethnal Green has urged Britain's premier, Gordon Brown and his Chancellor, Alistair Darling to do more for families with autism who are below the poverty line. Lady Uddin is supporting the Poverty and Autism Initiative launched in London on Monday 3rd November by the autism charity, the UK Autism Foundation.

A large case cohort study conducted over the course of many years tracked over 200,000 children and found that the 1st born child of older parents is more likely to be autistic.

Stress during pregnancy can have unfortunate consequences for children born under those conditions – slower development, learning and attention difficulties, anxiety and depressive symptoms and possibly even autism.

(London, UK) Councillor Alan Weinberg, the leader of the London Borough of Redbridge Council warmly supported the important work of the UK Autism Foundation. Cllr Weinberg was speaking at the Jon Sterry Concert for Autism in Woodford Green, Essex. The fundraising concert was in aid of the autism charity, the UK Autism Foundation.

People with autism-related disorders are less likely to make irrational decisions, and are less influenced by gut instincts, according to research funded by the Wellcome Trust. The study adds to the growing body of research implicating altered emotional processing in autism.

A UC Riverside-led team of biomedical scientists has found that a readily available drug called minocycline, used widely to treat acne and skin infections, can be used to treat Fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited cause of mental impairment and the most common cause of autism.