American Academy of Pediatrics - Autism Topics

Learn The Signs. Act Early. Early Identification of Children with Autism or other Developmental Disorders Awareness Campaign.

American Psychiatric Association

The American Psychiatric Association is a medical specialty society recognized world-wide. Its over 35,000 U.S. and international member physicians work together to ensure humane care and effective treatment for all persons with mental disorder, including mental retardation and substance-related disorders. It is the voice and conscience of modern psychiatry. Its vision is a society that has available, accessible quality psychiatric diagnosis and treatment.

Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy

The Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy is a professional, interdisciplinary organization that is concerned with the application of behavioral and cognitive sciences to understanding human behavior, developing interventions to enhance the human condition, and promoting the appropriate utilization of these interventions.

Association for Science in Autism Treatment

ASAT is committed to science as the most objective, time-tested and reliable approach to discerning between safe, effective autism treatments, and those that are harmful or ineffective. ASAT supports all scientifically sound research on the prevention, treatment and cure of autism, as well as all treatments for autism that are shown to be effective through solid scientific research, regardless of discipline or domain. ASAT is a national, not-for-profit, 501(c) 3 organization formed by a group of parents and professionals concerned about the care and treatment of individuals with autism. ASAT is dedicated to disseminating accurate, scientifically valid information about autism and its treatment options.

Autism File – Center for Autism Research

Center for Current Research. Compiled from the National Library of Medicine database at the National Institutes of Health, the Autism File includes detailed descriptions of current findings in the diagnosis and treatment of autism. These findings have already been published in top-rank medical journals–so you know the information is accurate and relevant, which is crucial as you and your doctors plan an appropriate course of treatment. Containing over 150 research descriptions (all written by the clinicians themselves), the Autism File informs you about studies at such renowned institutions as the Child Study Center at Yale University, the Behavioral Sciences Unit at London's Institute of Child Health, and the Seaver Autism Research Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Autism Network Resources for Physicians

Autism Network Resources for Physicians is a resource website listing links to autism research and related sites that will be of interest to physicians. The goal of this site is to assist the medical community in their efforts to understand autism and study the treatment options available in the hopes that someday, the treatment protocols that prove to be the most beneficial for certain populations with autism are going to be accepted or recommended by the medical community. By taking part in the study of autism and its causes, we hope that the medical community will be able to identify at-risk children and will be able to follow or recommend certain measures to prevent autism. Physicians who view this site are asked to challenge the validity of the research, studies, and anecdotal accounts presented in the links. They are asked to be actively involved in the studies and to work with the doctors, researchers, and scientists who are studying autism.

Autism Research Institute

The Autism Research Institute (ARI), a non-profit organization, was established in 1967. ARI is primarily devoted to conducting research, and to disseminating the results of research, on the causes of autism and on methods of preventing, diagnosing and treating autism and other severe behavioral disorders of childhood. We provide information based on research to parents and professionals throughout the world.

Behaviors Seen In Infants Can Predict Autism

Canadian researchers have become the first to pinpoint specific behavioral signs in infants as young as 12 months that can predict, with remarkable accuracy, whether a child will develop autism.

Center for Disease Control (CDC): National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities - Autism Information Center

Developmental disabilities activities at CDC include, studying how common developmental disabilities are and who is more likely to have them; finding the causes of developmental disabilities and the factors that increase the chance that a person will have one; learning how people with developmental disabilities can improve the quality of their lives.

Center for the Study of Autism

The Center provides information about autism to parents and professionals, and conducts research on the efficacy of various therapeutic interventions. Much of our research is in collaboration with the Autism Research Institute in San Diego, California.

Child Health Institute of New Jersey

The mission of the Child Health Institute is to build a comprehensive biomedical research center focused on molecular genetics and development; to forge scientific and hospital-based programs into an international academic children's center; to train physician scientists to catalyze the transfer of molecular genetics into preventive therapies; to address childhood diseases by integrating new knowledge into education, research and treatment; and to partner with academic, biotechnology, pharmaceutical and bioinformatics industries worldwide.

Child Neurology Foundation

The Child Neurology Foundation’s mission is to be an advocate for children and adolescents with neurological and developmental disorders through the advancement of child neurology.

Childbrain of the Neurology Channel – PDD/Autism

Dr. Grossmann has provided this PDD/Autism section of our website as a clear and practical resource for patients and their families who live with one of the various forms of PDD: Childhood autism; Asperger's syndrome; Childhood disintegrative disorder; Rett's disease; PDD NOS (pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified) .

e-medicine: Pervasive Developmental Disorder: Autism

http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic180.htm

Exploring Autism

This website is dedicated to helping families who are living with the challenges of autism stay informed about the exciting breakthroughs involving the genetics of autism. As new genetic research findings are reported for autistic disorder we will report and explain these findings. We will explain genetic principles as they relate to autism, provide you with the latest research news, and seek your input as together we work to increase the body of knowledge about autism. The Exploring Autism website is the collaborative effort of Autism Genetics Cooperative, a group of researchers and clinicians working with the help of families with children affected by autism to find the genetic causes of autism.

First Signs

First Signs, Inc. is a national non-profit organization dedicated to educating parents and pediatric professionals about the early warning signs of autism and other developmental disorders. Their mission is to ensure the best developmental outcome for every child by promoting awareness regarding the most important and often overlooked aspects of development: social, emotional, and communication. Their goals are to improve screening and referral practices and to lower the age at which young children are identified with autism and other developmental disorders.

International Child Development Resource Center

A place where you and your family can find answers and hope for your child with a developmental disorder. A place where traditional science and medicine is integrated with recently developed and recognized treatments and therapies. A place where the most advanced research in developmental disorders is a daily event. A place where parents, professionals, and physicians will be educated and trained to meet their most immediate point of need.

National Institute of Child Health & Human Development

The NICHD, part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), is one of the primary Institutes doing research into various aspects of autism, including its causes, prevalence, and treatments. The goal of this site is to provide easy access to the most current information about NICHD research projects, publications, news releases, and other activities related to autism and similar disorders.

Organization for Autism Research

The Organization for Autism Research (OAR) is a product of a shared vision, but unique life experiences of OAR’s seven founders. All have been active in both local and national autism organizations for many years. Together with Dr. Peter Gerhardt, the Chairman of OAR’s Scientific Council (as well as a member of the Board of Directors) and the members who have joined this year, OAR’s Board represents almost 200 years of life experience with autism. Led by these parents, grandparents, and relatives of children and adults with autism, OAR plans to use applied science to answer questions that parents, families, individuals with autism, teachers and caregivers confront daily. To that end, OAR will seek broad-based support for its autism research programs across America and internationally through alliances with other autism research organizations and its own network of volunteers.

Patient-Centered Guides: Autism Center

Patient-Centered Guides are a mix of medical, practical and emotional information, grounded in Western medicine, told by people who have been there. As with their other publishing programs, this series grew out of recognizing a need for a particular kind of information. The writers and editors in this series have encountered illnesses that have threatened or changed their lives.

Talk About Curing Autism

This site is dedicated to curing our loved ones one step at a time. Here you will find our family's story, introduction to Autism, biomedical intervention, dietary intervention, and behavioral based therapy, resources for providers and other important information. Many of the resources listed are for California - however - much of the information is helpful for any family affected by autism – ANYWHERE.

The Autism Autoimmunity Project

A non-profit charity dedicated to obtaining funding for independent research into the cause, treatment and prevention of autism and other autoimmune disorders. They support prominent medical and natural practitioners, who are working diligently to understand the biomedical and immunological causes. TAAP works to provide information on the latest and most successful treatments. Their vision is to financially support our independent doctors and researchers, who will not only re-define autism, but will lead to new treatments for our children, with the focus on prevention.

UCLA scientists pinpoint region of autism gene on chromosome 17

Autism is a complex disease caused by the interaction of multiple genes and environmental influences. As a result, scientists' previous attempts to locate a genetic risk factor have proved inconclusive. No researchers have been able to pinpoint a predisposing gene and then duplicate their efforts - a key piece of proof required for scientific validity.