TL;DR
This work will analyze some frequently observed autistic phenotypes not described in the DSM-5 and delve into four specific ones, recently defined in the literature, that show a genotype-phenotype correlation.
There is an urgent need for prospective longitudinal studies to adequately map the aging trajectories of this population of older adults with ASD, which constitute a vulnerable population.
Autism is a neurodevelopmental condition characterized by differences in social interaction, communication and behaviour. Despite a global prevalence of one in 127 individuals, autism remains underdiagnosed in low-resource settings. We examined the epidemiology of autism among children aged 2 to 9 years in Northern Uganda. Using multistage sampling, 1,139 children were screened for neurodevelopmental conditions using the validated 23Q screening tool. Children who screened positive underwent clinical assessment, and suspected cases received specialist assessments according to DSM-5-TR criteria. Descriptive statistics and Firth logistic regression were employed for analysis. The mean age was 5.38 years (SD = 2.07), and 51.0% were male. The prevalence of autism was 10.5 per 1,000 children (95% confidence interval [CI] [6.0, 18.5]), of whom 75.0% had co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions. Autistic children were more likely to have intellectual disability, epilepsy, learning disabilities, global developmental delay, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, dyslexia, cerebral palsy, hearing impairment and speech delay (p < .0045). After adjusting for gender, family history of autism (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 6.95, 95% CI [1.60, 30.23]), teenage motherhood (aOR = 8.30, 95% CI [1.30, 53.12]), breech presentation (aOR = 12.23, 95% CI [1.83, 81.64]), and oxygen resuscitation at birth (aOR = 4.56, 95% CI [1.08, 19.33]) were independent predictors of autism. These findings highlight the need to strengthen early identification and targeted services for autistic children in low-resource settings. Lay Abstract Autism affects how people communicate, interact, and process information, and about one in 127 people worldwide are autistic. In low-resource settings, autism is often under-researched and underdiagnosed. We carried out a study in Northern Uganda to estimate how common autism is among children aged 2 to 9 years, to identify co-occurring neurodevelopmental conditions, and to explore factors that may increase likelihood of autism. We enrolled 1,139 children from diverse communities using a multi-step sampling process. After parental consent, one child per household was screened with the 23Q neurodevelopmental screener. Children with possible conditions received further assessment by trained health care workers, and likely cases were confirmed by specialist clinicians using DSM-5-TR diagnostic criteria. Approximately 1 in 95 children were autistic, and none had previously received a diagnosis of autism. The average age of the children diagnosed with autism was about 5 years, and slightly more than half were boys, and most lived in rural areas. Most autistic children (82%) had at least one additional neurodevelopmental condition, such as intellectual disability, learning delays, or epilepsy. Autism was linked to family history, teenage motherhood, and certain birth complications. Improving maternal care, community awareness, and early diagnosis could better support autistic children in Northern Uganda.
Although the observed 4:1 ratio aligns with global trends, the findings suggest under-identification of females, and gender-sensitive diagnostic tools are needed to improve detection and understanding of ASD in females.
A narrative review of papers published between 1 January 2015 and 16 February 2026 that were pertinent to comorbidity and autism finds how the variable risk of comorbidity mimics the heterogeneity present in autism, thus inviting further investigations.
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is now one of the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorders, characterized by socio-communicative and cognitive challenges. Amongst them, memory challenges in ASD have been reported early, but only recently have studies suggested a prevalent memory impairment in autistic individuals. More importantly, little is known about the brain correlates associated with the memory challenges in ASD. In the current study, we used both quantitative and qualitative approaches to review a total of 42 studies (22 were included in the ALE analysis) to reveal the consistent findings in the literature on the memory functions in ASD, and found that the memory challenges in ASD are probably accompanied by an imbalance between brain functions in the left and right hemispheres, with deficient functions in fronto-parietal regions on the left hemisphere and an excessive engagement of the counterparts on the right hemisphere. In addition, the analysis suggested a top-down deficit from the frontal lobe during the memory tasks, and the atypical functions probably depended on the stimulus format and task types.
Clinical heterogeneity among children with NRXN1 deletions illustrates clinical heterogeneity among children with autism spectrum disorder and supports the need for larger studies to better define genotype-phenotype relationships.