Impairment in exploratory motor (EM) behavior is part of the Down syndrome behavioral phenotype. Exploratory motor behavior may be a pivotal skill for early intervention with infants with Down syndrome. Exploratory motor impairments are often attributed to general delays in motor development in infants with Down syndrome. A behavior analytic…

Each year, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) releases a list of scientific advances that represent significant progress in the field. The "2020 Summary of Advances in Autism Research" provides short, plain language summaries of the top research breakthroughs selected by the IACC from a pool of research articles…

Each year, the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) releases a list of scientific advances that represent significant progress in the field. The "2019 IACC Summary of Advances" provides short, plain language summaries of the top research breakthroughs selected by the IACC from a pool of research articles nominated by the…

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…

Tourette syndrome (TS) is one of three separate tic disorders. By definition, children with TS must have at least two motor (movement) tics and one vocal (or sound tic) for at least a year. The other tic disorders are chronic tic disorder (motor or vocal tics, but not both for at least one year) and transient tic disorder (motor and/or vocal tics…

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a neurobehavioral disorder associated with deletions and mutations of the "RAI1" gene on chromosome 17p11.2. Clinical features of the syndrome include intellectual disability, sleep disturbance, craniofacial differences, and a distinctive profile of stereotypic and self-injurious behaviors. Although the functional…

Recurrent pediatric headaches are increasingly understood to be a function of both respondent and operant processes. In particular, the environment is thought to elicit internal autonomic instability and to evoke external maladaptive pain behavior. While medical interventions often provide an appropriate first line treatment, behavioral…