1. Frankel F, Myatt R, Sugar C, Whitham C, Gorospe CM, Laugeson E. {{A Randomized Controlled Study of Parent-assisted Children’s Friendship Training with Children having Autism Spectrum Disorders}}. {J Autism Dev Disord}. Jan 8.

2. Hertz-Picciotto I, Green PG, Delwiche L, Hansen R, Walker C, Pessah IN. {{Blood Mercury Concentrations in CHARGE Study Children with and without Autism}}. {Environ Health Perspect}. Jan;118(1):161-6.

Background: Some authors have reported higher blood mercury (Hg) levels in persons with autism, relative to unaffected controls.Objectives: We compared blood total Hg concentrations in children with autism or autism spectrum disorder (AU/ASD) and typically developing (TD) controls in population-based samples, and determined the role of fish consumption in differences observed.Methods: The Childhood Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study enrolled children 2-5 years of age. After diagnostic evaluation, we analyzed three groups: AU/ASD, non-AU/ASD with developmental delay (DD), and population-based TD controls. Mothers were interviewed about household, medical, and dietary exposures. Blood Hg was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Multiple linear regression analysis was conducted (n = 452) to predict blood Hg from diagnostic status controlling for Hg sources.Results: Fish consumption strongly predicted total Hg concentration. AU/ASD children ate less fish. After adjustment for fish and other Hg sources, blood Hg levels in AU/ASD children were similar to those of TD children (p = 0.75); this was also true among non-fish eaters (p = 0.73). The direct effect of AU/ASD diagnosis on blood Hg not through the indirect pathway of altered fish consumption was a 12% reduction. DD children had lower blood Hg concentrations in all analyses. Dental amalgams in children with gum-chewing or teeth-grinding habits predicted higher levels.Conclusions: After accounting for dietary and other differences in Hg exposures, total Hg in blood was neither elevated nor reduced in CHARGE Study preschoolers with AU/ASD compared with unaffected controls, and resembled those of nationally representative samples. Editor’s SummaryMercury has been investigated as a possible cause of autism, but its association with autism remains uncertain. Hertz-Picciotto et al. (p. 161) examined blood Hg levels and sources of Hg exposure among participants in the Childhood Autism Risk from Genetics and the Environment (CHARGE) Study, including 2- to 5-year-old children classified as having autism or an autism spectrum disorder (autism/ASD, n = 249), developmental delay (DD, n = 60), and typical development (TD population-based controls, n = 143) based on standardized criteria and clinical examination. Information on household, medical, and dietary exposures was provided by mothers, and blood Hg was measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Fish consumption strongly predicted blood Hg, and lower average blood Hg levels observed in the autism/ASD group were consistent with lower levels of fish consumption in autism/ASD children compared with TD controls. In addition, multiple linear regression model predictions indicated comparable blood Hg levels in autism/ASD and TD children when adjusted for differences in fish consumption. Lower blood Hg levels observed in all analyses for children with DD versus TD or autism/ASD may have been a chance finding, but the authors propose that metabolic differences should also be investigated. The authors also note that findings do not rule out an effect of early Hg exposure on the etiology of autism/ASD because associations were measured after diagnosis.

3. Johnson S, Hollis C, Kochhar P, Hennessy E, Wolke D, Marlow N. {{Autism Spectrum Disorders in Extremely Preterm Children}}. {J Pediatr}. Jan 5.

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence, correlates, and antecedents of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in extremely preterm children. STUDY DESIGN: We conducted a prospective study of all births <26 weeks gestation in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 1995. Of 307 survivors at 11 years, 219 (71%) were assessed and compared with 153 term-born classmates. Parents completed the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) to assess autism spectrum symptoms, and ASD were diagnosed by using a psychiatric evaluation. An IQ test and clinical evaluation were also administered. Longitudinal outcome data were available for extremely preterm children. RESULTS: Extremely preterm children had significantly higher SCQ scores than classmates (mean difference, 4.6 points; 95% CI, 3.4-5.8). Sixteen extremely preterm children (8%) were assigned an ASD diagnosis, compared with none of the classmates. By hospital discharge, male sex, lower gestation, vaginal breech delivery, abnormal cerebral ultrasound scanning results, and not having had breast milk were independently associated with autism spectrum symptoms. By 6 years, independent associates were cognitive impairment, inattention and peer problems, withdrawn behavior at 2.5 years, and not having had breast milk. CONCLUSIONS: Extremely preterm children are at increased risk for autism spectrum symptoms and ASD in middle childhood. These symptoms and disorders were associated with neurocognitive outcomes, suggesting that ASD may result from abnormal brain development in this population.

4. Larson T, Anckarsater H, Gillberg C, Stahlberg O, Carlstrom E, Kadesjo B, et al. {{Screening for autism and AD/HD. The A-TAC: further validation of a telephone interview in clinical and population samples}}. {BMC Psychiatry}. Jan 7;10(1):1.

ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: Reliable, valid, and easy-to-administer instruments to identify possible caseness and to provide proxies for clinical diagnoses are needed in epidemiological research on child and adolescent mental health. The aim of this study is to provide further validity data for a parent telephone interview focused on Autism – Tics, Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), and other Comorbidities (A-TAC), for which reliability and preliminary validation data have been previously reported. METHODS: Parents of 91 children clinically diagnosed at a specialized Child Neuropsychiatric Clinic, 366 control children and 319 children for whom clinical diagnoses had been previously assigned were interviewed by the A-TAC over the phone. Interviewers were blind to clinical information. Different scores from the A-TAC were compared to the diagnostic outcome. RESULTS: Areas under ROC curves for interview scores as predictors of clinical diagnoses were around 0.95 for most disorders, including autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD), tic disorders, developmental coordination disorders (DCD) and learning disorders, indicating excellent screening properties. Screening cut-off scores with sensitivities above 0.90 (0.95 for ASD and AD/HD) were established for most conditions, as well as cut-off scores to identify proxies to clinical diagnoses with specificities above 0.90 (0.95 for ASD and AD/HD). CONCLUSIONS: The previously reported validity of the A-TAC was supported by this larger replication study using broader scales from the A-TAC-items and a larger number of diagnostic categories. Short versions of algorithms worked as well as larger. Different cut-off levels for screening versus identifying proxies for clinical diagnoses are warranted. Data on the validity for mood problems and oppositional defiant/conduct problems are still lacking. Although the A-TAC is principally intended for epidemiological research and general investigations, the instrument may be useful as a tool to collect information in clinical practice as well.

5. Maekawa M, Iwayama Y, Arai R, Nakamura K, Ohnishi T, Toyota T, et al. {{Polymorphism screening of brain-expressed FABP7, 5 and 3 genes and association studies in autism and schizophrenia in Japanese subjects}}. {J Hum Genet}. Jan 8.

6. McGrath RJ, Laflamme DJ, Schwartz AP, Stransky M, Moeschler JB. {{Access to genetic counseling for children with autism, Down syndrome, and intellectual disabilities}}. {Pediatrics}. 2009 Dec;124 Suppl 4:S443-9.

OBJECTIVE: We examined the need for genetic counseling services (GCS) for families of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), Down syndrome (DS), and/or mental retardation (MR) and factors that influence the receipt of needed GCS for those children relative to other children with special health care needs (CSHCN). METHODS: Analysis was conducted on the 2005-2006 National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs, a nationally representative sample. Bivariate analyses were conducted by examining need for and receipt of GCS for children with ASD, DS, and/or MR and other CSHCN as well as differences by contextual variables using the health belief model (HBM). Logistic regression analyses were conducted to assess the relative impact of receipt of needed GCS by HBM constructs. RESULTS: Families of children with diagnoses of ASD, DS, and/or MR perceive significantly higher need for GCS than other CSHCN. The presence of a medical home is the single most important factor in facilitating access to GCS, together with the presence of insurance, particularly private or a combination of private and public insurance. As income and education attainment decrease, barriers to GCS rise. CONCLUSIONS: This analysis supports strategies for improving linkages between specialty providers and the medical home at which primary care is delivered. Increased effort should be made to attend to those who experience barriers that result from lack of insurance, poverty, low education, or racial or ethnic differences. Health professionals need to collaborate in developing solutions to underinsurance or lack of insurance for CSHCN.