Autism Speaks has a new Chief Science Officer http://www.autismspeaks.org/about-us/press...ficer-autism-speaks Geraldine Dawson (no relation whatsoever) is out, Robert Ring is in.

Just slogged through this DSM-5 round table http://sfari.org/sfari-community/community...ve-dsm-5-discussion not sure I can recommend it but in some ways it is enlightening about the process and its results

I have my very own copy of DSM-5 now, still digesting.

Some more post-DSM-5 changes to ICD-11-Beta (it's here http://apps.who.int/classifications/icd11/browse/f/en ), for anyone keeping track: Asperger's is now gone in any form, leaving ASD, Rett's, and CDD under the heading of "Autism spectrum disorders and related disorders." There is "Social communication disorder" under "Disorders of speech and language" but it currently has no description or definition.

"An Experimental Drug’s Bitter End" NYT story http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/07/business..._r=0&pagewanted=all though it might not be the actual end, given all the lobbying efforts.

Seaside has also suspended recruitment for a trial of one of their other drugs, which is a different type of drug http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01325740 They have another drug in this class (mGluR5 antagonists) at the preclinical level. There are other trials underway, conducted by other companies (Novartis, Roche), testing this kind of drug as a treatment for Fragile X, here is a paper http://stm.sciencemag.org/content/3/64/64ra1.short ("no significant effects of treatment on the primary outcome measure")

This line of research, based on mouse models of FXS, is considered a very big deal in autism research. I saw the Seaside arbaclofen autism RCT presented at IMFAR this year, you can find the most optimistic view of this study (... not the only view) in its abstract http://imfar.confex.com/imfar/2013/webprogram/Paper15177.html The referred-to open label study has not been published that I know of (happy to be corrected on that one).

Re /m13307 that is now one of my all-time favourite cloud photos.

Not your usual media reporting about autism, CBC radio interview http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2013/...f-nurturing-genius/

That one's highly recommended to say the least. Excellent.

I haven't seen the DSM-5 yet but here is a comment from someone who has, and has very strong views on the autism criteria final text http://www.huffingtonpost.com/allen-france...laws_b_3337009.html

There is this direct quote (I can't verify it) from the DSM-5:

"Note: Individuals with a well established DSM-IV diagnosis of autistic disorder, Asperger's disorder, or pervasive developmental disorder not otherwise specified should be given the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. Individuals who have marked deficits in social communication, but whose symptoms do not otherwise meet criteria for autism spectrum disorder, should be evaluated for social communication disorder."