Nobody can dispute that research to better understand autistic adolescents and adults is lacking.  However, scientists continue to make important scientific discoveries in infants and toddlers with autism.  These infants and toddlers eventually become adolescents and adults, so identifying critical periods of brain development that influences behavior, what to say to parents and when, and how to  engage the entire community to better serve infants and toddlers is still needed.  This week is an update on the activities of the Baby Siblings Research Consortium (BSRC), including a paper that ties in activity of different brain regions at 1 year olds, to stereotyped behaviors and insistence on sameness in 2 year olds.  The research of the BSRC is directly applicable to families affected by autism at all ages.

 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30446435