Pursuing the puzzle of autism

Autism and the related autistic spectrum disorders are now known to be widespread, affecting around 0.6% of all live births. Scientific understanding of its causes and educational provision for the children diagnosed with the condition have so far remained unsatisfactory. In the UK, an estimated number of around 26,000 children on the spectrum require specialist provision, but only 4,000 such places are currently available. Most of the existing facilities are provided by small local charities, many of which have been founded by parents exasperated by the inability of the state schools to cater for their autistic children. One such charity is TreeHouse, which was set up five years ago by a group of parents in North London. It now runs a school caring for 30 pupils aged 3 to 9 years, on a one-to-one teacher-topupil ratio (www.treehouse.org.uk). The trustees hope that in a few years time, the school will be able to accommodate 80 pupils in a new, purpose-designed building. The Wellcome Trust, Britain’s biggest biomedical charity, is now highlighting the work of such schools by hosting a photographic exhibition at its TwoTen Gallery in its London headquarters. The photographer Stefanie Hafner (www.stefaniehafner.com), who has so far worked for the advertisements of several global companies, has spent three months with the staff and children of TreeHouse. Her exhibition ‘Outside Looking In: Photographs from TreeHouse’ features a series of portraits of the children, along with photographs of the specialized environment provided by the school (October 1–31, 210 Euston Road, London). With a high-profile launch event on October 1st, the Wellcome Trust ensured the exhibition made a contribution to the current ‘Autism Awareness Year’. Guest speakers at the event included Professor Anthony Bailey, formerly of the Institute of Psychiatry at Kings College London, who on the same day took office as the Cheryl and Reece Scott Professor of Psychiatry at Oxford, the first UK chair fully dedicated to autism research, along with the writer Charlotte Moore, who reports on her experience with two autistic sons in a newspaper column (‘Mind the Gap’ in The Guardian, every other Wednesday). Along with the government report on autism provided by the Medical Research Council earlier this year (Current Biology 12, R42), activities including this exhibition and other events hosted by local charities in many places will hopefully help to improve the awareness of the pressing need for both a better scientific understanding of autism and a more consistent educational provision for the children affected by it. Most experts agree that, short of an efficient medical cure, intensive early education on a one-to-one basis is the most efficient way to help children with autism to overcome their disability and lead at least partially independent lives when they grow up.