As the diagnosis of autism is increasing the diagnosis of mental retardation is decreasing. And more and more on the other end, the high end, more children who are just a little bit off, who ordinarily you would not single out now are being described as perhaps Asperger’s syndrome or on the high end of the autism spectrum, so I don’t believe there is an epidemic.

I think the gold standard is a clinical diagnosis, that an astute clinician interacting with a child, interviewing the parents, talking with teachers makes the diagnosis based on some standard tests and also on clinical impression and skill.

Autism is not a snapshot. It's a life.

There are clear differences between and some- and there may be protective factors in a female brain.

Memory is the scaffolding upon which all mental life is constructed.

I think my own bias is that there may be something wrong with the timing and the connectivity between regions rather than pointing to one particular spot in the brain.

In autism there is just genes in part more or less of a probability that you will have the disorder, and that is where interactions with the environment are key.