When Lilita Gigena was just 3 months old, one of her aunts spotted something unusual: The baby did not follow people with her eyes, as babies typically do by that age. Neither Gigena’s parents nor her pediatrician in their hometown of Córdoba, Argentina, had noticed anything out of the ordinary about the newborn. But her […]

Four years ago, Samantha Bounaparte was volunteering at the Esplanade for a musical performance staged specially for members of an autism community group when she met a boy who was on the autism spectrum. He was showing so much joy while playing the gamelan (a traditional percussive musical instrument from Indonesia) that she went up […]

Mr Wesley Loh’s call for government intervention to ensure that persons with autism are able to access insurance coverage just like those without disabilities is timely (Govt help needed to tackle insurer bias against autism, Sept 17). Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), state parties are obliged to […]

Five years after “Sesame Street” put its focus on autism, new research suggests the show’s materials are helping to change minds among parents of kids with and without the developmental disorder. The venerable children’s television show introduced a character with autism and a collection of online materials with information about the condition and resources for […]

The fleeting way cats make eye contact may explain why some autistic children develop stronger relationships with pet cats than pet dogs. The “less intrusive glance” of cats, compared to the “long gazes” that dogs make, might align better with autistic children’s “social needs,” says Marine Grandgeorge at the University of Rennes in France. “Cats […]