Using acetaminophen as directed during pregnancy does not increase a child's risk of autism, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or intellectual disability, a major new review published Friday finds.

Acetaminophen, also known as paracetamol and by the brand name Tylenol, is one of the most commonly used medications in pregnancy, with doctors often recommending it as the first option for pain or fever, but in limited use.

Barbie is launching its first autistic doll in an effort to represent how individuals with autism spectrum disorder experience the world around them, USA TODAY can exclusively reveal.

The doll, which is part of Barbie's Fashionistas line, includes intentional design choices like flexible elbow and hand joints for stimming, which refers to repetitive body movement behavior some people with autism engage in to process sensory information.

From the abstract:

Although autism has historically been conceptualized as a condition that emerges in early childhood^1,2, many autistic people are diagnosed later in life^3,4,5. It is unknown whether earlier- and later-diagnosed autism have different developmental trajectories and genetic profiles. Using longitudinal data from four independent birth cohorts, we demonstrate that two different socioemotional and behavioural trajectories are associated with age at diagnosis.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has launched the Autism Data Science Initiative (ADSI), a landmark research effort that will harness large-scale data resources to explore contributors to the causes and rising prevalence of autism spectrum disorder. More than $50 million in awards will support 13 pioneering projects that draw on genomic, epigenomic, metabolomic, proteomic, clinical, behavioral and autism services data. These projects will integrate, aggregate and analyze existing data resources, generate targeted new data and validate findings through independent replication hubs.

Big news for autism research: Yale received a $27.7M grant to develop personalized, non-invasive therapies that could transform care and outcomes for children with autism.

In a recently published study from Princeton University and the Simons Foundation, researchers identified four biologically distinct subtypes of autism.