Loneliness and friendship were examined in 22 high-functioning children with autism and 19 typically developing children equated with the autistic children for IQ, CA, gender, mother's education, and ethnicity. Children between the ages of 8 and 14 were asked to report on both their understanding and feelings of loneliness and the quality of their friendship. Compared to typically developing ch...

PROBLEM The nature of the peptides found increased in urine from autism needs verification of their structure, especially those that show opioid activity. METHODS The peptides were separated on reverse phase C-18 HPLC in Trifluoroacetic acid-acetonitril gradients. Peaks eluting where synthetic opioids appear, and peaks that are common to most autistic children were analyzed by mass spectromet...

Materials and Methods: This prospective study was approved by the institutional review board, and informed consent was obtained from the parents or guardians of all subjects. Functional MR imaging was performed during passive presentations of prerecorded speech in 15 control subjects (mean age 6 standard deviation, 12.1 years 6 4.3) and 12 languageimpaired, age-matched autistic subjects (mean a...

Background: Twin, family, and linkage studies have indicated that attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) share a portion of their heritable etiology. This suggests that individuals with ADHD may manifest different forms of ASDs that may range from fully developed syndromic forms of the disorder to milder manifestations of ASD symptomatology, which w...

Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder that according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) affects 1 in 150 children in the United States. Autism is characterized by impairments in social relatedness and communication, repetitive behaviors, abnormal movements, and sensory dysfunction. Recently emerging evidence suggests that mercury, especially from childhood vaccines, appea...

BACKGROUND Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are considered safe and are frequently used during pregnancy. However, two case-control studies suggested an association between prenatal SSRI exposure with childhood autism. AIMS To prospectively determine whether intra-uterine SSSRI exposure is associated with childhood autistic symptoms in a population-based study. METHOD A total...

PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to assess the oral health status and dental needs of a nationally representative sample of 1- to 17-year-old children with or without autism. METHODS In the 2003 National Survey of Children's Health, parents reported their child's oral health status and needs. The condition of the child's teeth, demographics, time since last dental visit, and dental needs...