Background: Autism can occur as a result of a complex interaction between environmental factors and genetic predisposition. Mercury is a neurotoxicant and it is one of the main environmental triggers for autoimmunity. The underlying pathogenic mechanism in autoimmune disorders is the formation of auto-antibodies. Brain specific autoantibodies are elevated in a subgroup of autistic children. We ...

Publishing my paper on Asperger's syndrome in 1981, and suggesting that it is part of the autistic spectrum, has had various consequences. These include the growth of interest in the syndrome among the general public as well as professionals. Controversy over definitions of subgroups and prevalence of autistic spectrum disorders has increased. Adult psychiatrists are becoming aware that high fu...

Although people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) often have severe problems with pragmatic aspects of language, little is known about their pragmatic reasoning. We carried out a behavioral study on high-functioning adults with autistic disorder (n = 11) and Asperger syndrome (n = 17) and matched controls (n = 28) to investigate whether they are capable of deriving scalar implicatures, which...

Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) tend to have sensory processing difficulties (Baranek et al. in J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:591-601, 2006). These difficulties include over- and under-responsiveness to sensory stimuli, and problems modulating sensory input (Ben-Sasson et al. in J Autism Dev Disorders 39:1-11, 2009). As those with ASD exist at the extreme end of a continuum of...

Children with autistic spectrum disorders have difficulties integrating motor and sensory experiences. It is important to address therapeutic interventions for these children. However, there are some limitations of the sensory integration therapy and the application of virtual reality for autistic children. SIT based on VR-TIS (VR-SIT) has three components: measurement of coordination ability, ...

Dental treatment of patients with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) can be complicated because of the presence of behavioural unpredictability. This article reviews the present literature on the issues dealt with children with autistic spectrum disorder from the dental perspective. The prevalence of autism is rising worldwide. Consequently, dentists will find an increasing number of such children...

Numerous studies have indicated that imitation difficulties are apparent when comparing autistic children to typical development or with various disorders who of the same mental age. Autistic problems can be discriminated against by other as early age two. Children's skills in language, social, and capacity for play depends on their ability imitate. However, there is a shortage information rega...

Many families are directly involved in caring of their children with the lifelong autistic spectrum disorders. Sometimes, they are the victims of their children's behaviors. The family, including siblings, may have to explain the children's behaviors to others. Their mothers have poorer mental health with difficulties in family adaptability and cohesion. Its burden is not just limited to psycho...

Recent clinic-based and population-based studies have shown evidence of association between ADHD and autistic symptoms in children and adolescents as well as evidence for genetic overlap between these disorders. The objective of the current study was to confirm the association between autistic and ADHD symptoms in a young adult twin sample assessed by self-report, and investigate whether shared...

Autistic-spectrum conditions and psychotic-spectrum conditions (mainly schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression) represent two major suites of disorders of human cognition, affect, and behavior that involve altered development and function of the social brain. We describe evidence that a large set of phenotypic traits exhibit diametrically opposite phenotypes in autistic-spectrum v...