Research Snapshot

Research Advances > Statistics & Trends > What Is Studied

A recent paper emphasized the need for research on population-level strategies for youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as they transition into adulthood. Explore this page to learn more about the current research landscape for ASD.

Using the PubMed.gov database, we create a daily graph which reflects the number of primary research papers for each subject that are available right now. Our numbers include only papers reporting new findings, and exclude any review type summary articles that are regularly published. There are three categories that we regularly track:

A. Genetics

Researchers have focused on the genetic basis of autism since the 1970s (see here for more information). Genetic research has continued since then, identifying an ever-increasing set of genes.

See the research papers.

B. Therapy

Therapy includes the broad area of developing new treatment options as well as determining the efficacy of existing treatment options. These treatment types can include options involving a pharmaceutical agent as well as those that focus on behavior or environmental intervention.

Non-pharmaceutical therapy

See the research papers.

Pharmaceutical Therapy

See the research papers.

C. Advances

Autism Reading Room includes up-to-date coverage of three novel technologies that are getting a lot of attention from both researchers and the general public.