New research findings provide major challenges regarding our understanding of the concept of autism. These are critically discussed in relation to research relevant to classification, genetics, environmental risk factors, gene-environment interplay, animal models, biomarkers, clinical features, neuropathology, pharmacotherapy, behavioral…

Assessment of category knowledge and receptive language skills of 16 autistic (3-6 years old), mentally retarded, and normal children indicated that the autistic children's knowledge of function, form, and color categories was comparable to that of the mental-age-matched mentally retarded and normal comparison groups. (Author/DB)