By Miriam Falco, CNN

November 30, 2009 1:49 a.m. EST

Researchers have shown for the first time that if a child is diagnosed with autism as early as 18 months of age, offering the toddler age-appropriate, effective therapy can lead to raised IQ levels and improved language skills and behavior.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/conditions/11/30/autism.study/

By: Amy Norton

Reuters Health

When one identical twin develops the developmental disorder autism, the risk of the other developing it is high — substantially higher than it is for fraternal twins, a new study confirms. The study, which gathered information from 277 twin pairs in which at least one had an autistic disorder, found that when one identical twin developed an autistic disorder, the other one also did 88 percent of the time.

http://www.reuters.com/article/healthNews/idUSTRE59L4MW20091022