At a late-April conference entitled "Autism: Deciphering the Puzzle," developmental biologists, geneticists, and neurobiologists gathered to talk about this complex disease. While scientists attending the conference at the California Institute of Technology could not explain the huge jump in incidence, they did voice some hope: there is progress in understanding the condition's biological basis, along with the development of experimental models, and it could lead to better treatments.
Patricia Rodier, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Rochester, described an early intervention test at the conference that is used with infants. Devised by Susan Bryson of York University in Toronto, this test measures a child's ability to shift focus from one stimulus to another. In the first part of the test, one light is turned on, and then as a second light is turned on, the first is shut off. All children will shift their focus from the ...
