For years, one of the most common medications used during pregnancy became the center of a growing autism controversy.

Studies, headlines, lawsuits and social media posts raised concerns that acetaminophen — better known by the brand name Tylenol — might increase the risk of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder in children. The claims spread rapidly through parenting groups, advocacy circles and online communities searching for answers about rising autism diagnoses.

The theory seemed to fit a familiar pattern. Autism rates were increasing. Parents wanted answers. Researchers were investigating possible environmental factors. Attorneys were filing lawsuits. Social media was amplifying every new study. Before long, many people had moved beyond discussing whether a possible link existed and instead began treating the claim as established fact.

Now, some of the largest and most rigorous studies conducted on the issue have reached a very different conclusion.

Researchers analyzi…

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For decades, autism was a diagnosis few families expected to hear and even fewer professionals fully understood. Services were limited, insurance coverage was rare, and parents often found themselves navigating a fragmented system with little guidance and even fewer treatment options.

Today, the picture looks dramatically different. Applied Behavior Analysis, commonly known as ABA, has become the dominant therapy in autism care. Thousands of clinics operate across the country. Medicaid programs spend billions of dollars annually on behavioral services. Private equity firms have invested heavily in autism provider networks, and nearly every state now requires some form of autism insurance coverage. At the same time, ABA has become the subject of increasing scrutiny from aut…

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Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine have been awarded up to $17.25 million to join an international autism research network designed to accelerate the development of precision therapies for autistic individuals and people with related neurodevelopmental disorders. The grant places the Houston institutions among the first 12 sites worldwide selected to participate in the Innovative Medicine and Precision Approaches to Clinical Trials (IMPACT) Network, an initiative funded through Aligning Research to Impact Autism (ARIA).

The announcement is significant not only because of the size of the award, but because it raises a larger question: Why were Texas Children’s and Baylor chosen?

The answer lies in more than a decade of investment in autism genetics, neuroscience and clinical care.

According to ARIA, the IMPACT Network was created to address a longstanding challenge in autism research. While scientists have made substantial progress identifying genes and biological pa…

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For decades, autism researchers have searched for the genetic factors that contribute to autism spectrum disorder. Hundreds of genes have been linked to autism, helping scientists better understand how the condition develops and why autistic individuals can have such diverse experiences.

Most of those discoveries, however, have come with a familiar challenge. The same genetic changes associated with autism often affect many other aspects of development, including learning, memory, attention, language, and intellectual functioning. As a result, researchers have struggled to separate the biology underlying autism’s core characteristics from the biology involved in broader developmental disabilities.

A new study may offer an important clue.

Researchers have identi…

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For many families, the recommendation comes almost immediately after concerns about a child’s development begin to emerge.

A toddler isn’t speaking on time. A preschooler struggles to interact with peers. A teacher raises concerns about attention, behavior or learning. Parents mention autism, ADHD or developmental delays to their pediatrician and often hear the same advice: “You should see a developmental pediatrician.”

For some families, that recommendation can feel reassuring. For others, it marks the beginning of a frustrating journey through waitlists that can stretch six months, a year or even longer. Yet despite the growing demand for developmental pediatricians, many parents remain unclear about w…

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More than a decade after Asperger’s syndrome officially disappeared from the American diagnostic manual, debate over the change has never fully gone away. For some autistic adults and families, the removal represented overdue progress toward a broader understanding of autism as a spectrum. For others, it felt like the loss of an identity, a language and a diagnosis that once helped explain a very specific lived experience.

In 2013, the American Psychiatric Association released the DSM-5, the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders used by clinicians across the United States. One of the most consequential changes involved autism diagnoses. Asperger’s syndrome, autistic disorder and pervasive developmental disorder-not otherwise specified, or PDD-NOS, …

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For years, autism research has largely focused on behavior: social communication differences, repetitive behaviors, sensory sensitivities and developmental milestones. But a growing body of neuroscience research is pushing scientists deeper into the biology of the autistic brain itself — particularly the role of glutamate, one of the brain’s most important chemical messengers. Now, a new study involving the Alzheimer’s drug memantine is renewing interest in whether targeting glutamate pathways could one day help certain subgroups of autistic people, potentially opening the door to more personalized treatment approaches in autism research.

Glutamate is the brain’s primary excitatory neurotransmitter, meaning it helps n…

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Researchers may have confirmed what many families have long suspected: ADHD may not be a single condition, but a group of neurologically distinct subtypes with different underlying brain patterns, behavioral presentations and support needs.

New brain imaging research identified multiple ADHD “biotypes,” including one severe subtype linked to emotional dysregulation — intense overwhelm, explosive emotional reactions and difficulty recovering once emotionally escalated. The findings suggest that two children carrying the same ADHD diagnosis may actually be experiencing very different neurological challenges beneath the surface.

For autism families, the implications could be significant.

The research arrives as increasing numbers of children are being diagnosed with both autism spectrum disorder and ADHD, two neurodevelopmental conditions that…

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Across the United States, a growing number of autistic children are prescribed medications to manage anxiety, irritability, attention challenges and sleep disturbances, but responsibility for those decisions is often diffuse. Estimates suggest that 50% to 70% of autistic children are prescribed at least one psychotropic medication, with many receiving multiple prescriptions over time. Yet there is no single system—or provider—consistently overseeing that care. Instead, medication decisions are frequently spread across pediatricians, child psychiatrists, neurologists and behavioral specialists, each operating within their own scope. The result is a fragmented approach in which the question is not only what is being prescribed, but who is ultimately accountable for those choices.

In practice, pediatricians often serve as the first point of contact and may initiate medications…

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The marketing often sounds clinical, using terms like microbiome, inflammation and neurotransmitters to frame a growing number of products and therapies aimed at autism families. The message is consistent: improve the gut, and behavior may follow. For families navigating daily challenges, that promise can feel both urgent and actionable. But as interest in the gut-brain connection has surged, so has a marketplace that is moving faster than the science behind it.

Researchers have found that autistic children experience gastrointestinal issues at higher rates than their neurotypical peers, with some estimates ranging from 40% to 70%. Studies have also identified differences in gut bacteria and how the body processes certain nutrients, prompting ongoing research into how the digestive system and brain interact. But scientists caution that these findings do not establish cause and effect.

In simple terms, just because these differences exist does not mean one is causing the other. There is …

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When we first reported on glutamate and the brain, the response surfaced a question that cuts to the center of how autism research is often framed: if we’re talking about brain swelling, and now we’re talking about glutamate, are these competing explanations—or are they connected?

It’s a fair question. And increasingly, it may be the wrong way to think about it.

Glutamate is one of the brain’s primary neurotransmitters, essential for learning, memory, and communication between neurons. In normal ranges, it’s not just helpful—it’s necessary. But like many biological systems, balance is everything. A growing body of research has explored what happens when glutamate signaling becomes dysregulated, particularly in cases where levels are elevated. In those scenarios, scientists have observed a process known as excitotoxicity, where neurons become overstimulated, firing excessively and struggling to regulate that activity.

That …

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Across the world, a growing number of private clinics are offering what many autism families have long been searching for: a treatment that promises measurable change. Marketed through polished websites, emotional testimonials, and direct outreach to parents, stem cell therapy has emerged as one of the most controversial—and costly—options in the global autism marketplace.

The pitch is often straightforward. Clinics, many located outside the United States in countries such as Panama, Mexico, and parts of Eastern Europe, claim that stem cells can reduce core symptoms of autism—improving communication, behavior, and cognitive function. For families navigating years-long waitlists for services, limited school support, and few post-diagnosis options, the message can be powerful: this could be something different.

In Panama, private clinics have promoted stem cell infusion…

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For decades, autism has been framed as a single diagnosis. In practice, it often reflects a broader neurodevelopmental profile with overlapping conditions that shape how a child moves, communicates, and navigates daily life. Among the most common (and frequently underrecognized) are dyspraxia, or developmental coordination disorder (DCD), and apraxia, including childhood apraxia of speech (CAS). Both affect motor planning, but in different ways: dyspraxia impacts whole-body coordination and the ability to carry out sequences of movement, while apraxia—particularly CAS—affects the brain’s ability to plan and produce the precise movements required for speech.

Estimates vary, but a substantial share of autistic children, often cited between 50 and 80 percent, experience motor coordination difficulties consistent with dyspraxia. These challeng…

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For decades, autism was framed as a condition that primarily affected boys and the data seemed to support it. Boys were diagnosed at nearly four times the rate of girls. But that narrative is now being challenged, not because autism is suddenly more common in women, but because it was likely missed all along. Today, a growing body of research—and a surge in late-life diagnoses—is forcing a reevaluation of how autism presents, who gets identified, and why so many women were overlooked for years.

According to Autism Speaks, girls are still about four times less likely to be diagnosed than boys and typically receive that diagnosis later. But the gap is closing rapidly. Between 2011 and 2022, autism diagnoses in girls and women more than tripled, rising faster than in males. This isn’t a sudden increase in autism. It’s a correcti…

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A study out of Yale School of Medicine is adding to a growing body of research attempting to answer one of the most complex questions in autism: what is happening in the brain, and how does it connect to behavior? The finding is specific, but potentially significant. Researchers observed that autistic individuals may have fewer receptors for glutamate, one of the brain’s primary neurotransmitters responsible for communication between neurons. At its surface, the study offers something the field has long searched for—a measurable biological difference that could help explain certain characteristics associated with autism. But like much of autism research, the implications are far from straightforward.

Glutamate is often described as the brain’s main excitatory neurotransmitter, playing a central role in learning, memory, and sensory processing. The receptors that respond to glutamate are just as important as the chemical itself, determining how signals are received, processed, and regul…

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For decades, autism has followed a familiar and frustrating timeline. Parents notice something feels different, often long before they can articulate it. Pediatricians advise monitoring. Developmental delays become clearer. And a diagnosis typically arrives sometime between ages two and four after critical windows for early intervention have already begun to narrow. But emerging research is now challenging that entire sequence. Studies using functional connectivity MRI (fcMRI), a type of brain imaging that maps how different regions of the brain communicate, suggest that autism risk may be detectable as early as six months of age—well before any behavioral symptoms appear.

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In Friday’s piece, we explored how autism may not be explained by genetics alone. Increasingly, researchers are pointing to a more complex picture—one that includes genetic sensitivity, environmental exposures, and a third factor that operates at the most fundamental level of the body: cellular response. This mechanism is known as the Cell Danger Response (CDR), and it is becoming a central focus in how some scientists understand autism.

At its core, the Cell Danger Response is not a disorder—it’s a survival system. When the body encounters a threat, whether from infection, toxins, or stress, cells shift into a protective mode. They conserve energy, limit communication, and prioritize defense over normal function. This response is essential for healing. As researchers at the University of California San Diego explain, the CDR is a “metabolic process that helps cells heal from injury or infection” and adapt to threats.

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For years, autism has been explained in two very different ways. On one side, genetics—the idea that autism is something you are born with, written into your biology. On the other, environment—questions about exposure, development, and what happens before and after birth. These conversations have often been treated separately, sometimes even in conflict.

But two recent developments suggest the reality may be more connected, and more complex, than either explanation alone.

A new large-scale genetic study led by researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai found that many of the genes associated with autism are consistent across different populations, including individuals from Latin American backgrounds who have historically been underrepresented in research. In simple terms, the core genetic signals linked to autism appear to show up regardless of ancestry. That finding matters. I…

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In the past few days, many autism parents have started seeing headlines about Leucovorin being approved by the FDA for autism. The reaction online has ranged from excitement to skepticism to outright confusion. Honestly, all of those reactions make sense. Because when you look beyond the headlines, the story behind Leucovorin and what this approval actually means is far more nuanced than it first appears.

Leucovorin, also known as folinic acid, is not a new drug. It has been used for decades in medicine, most commonly to reduce the side effects of chemotherapy or to treat certain types of folate deficiencies. In autism circles, however, the medication has been quietly discussed for years. Some physicians have prescribed it off-label for children with autism based on research connected to something called Folate Receptor Alpha Autoanti…

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