Until we fully understand autism and which interventions improve the quality of life of autistic people and their families, we will continue to fund cutting edge research. 

Browse below a list of the milestones achieved by the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge:

2015-present

2016: Raised awareness about autism and employment (BBC2 Employable Me).
2015: Demonstrating oxytocin increases eye-contact in autism.
2015: Identifying elevated fetal steroid hormones in children who later develop autism.

2011-14

2014: First meta-analysis of typical sex differences in brain structure.
2014: Confirming GABRB3 as a key gene in autism.
2014: Molecular genetic study links mathematical ability and autism.
2013: Identifying synaesthesia is more common in autism.
2013: Opening of the Chitra Sethia Autism Centre, Cambridgeshire.
2012: Linking FT to regional gray matter volume and functional activity in the typical brain.
2011: Development of ‘red flags’ for autism (short AQs).
2011: Elevated rates of autism linked to an IT-rich city (Eindhoven).
2011: Zero Degrees of Empathy (Penguin)
2011: Linking elevated androstenedione to autism
2011: Elevated autistic traits linked to female-to-male transsexuals

2005-2010

2010: Autism and Asperger Syndrome: The Facts (OUP)
2009: Establishing autism as 1% of the population
2009: Linking FT to autistic traits
2007: The Transporters (DVD) (www.thetransporters.com)
2006: The Adolescent AQ
2006: Benefits of emotion recognition training demonstrated
2006: Linking FT to empathy and systemizing
2006: Role of Cannabinoid Receptor Gene (CNR1) in emotion perception and neural activity
2006: The broader autism phenotype in parents using fMRI
2006: The 'Assortative Mating/hyper-systemizing' theory of autism
2005: Development of a diagnostic method for adults with Asperger Syndrome     (Adult Asperger Assessment (AAA))
2005: The EMB theory at the biological level (Science)
2005: Linking FT to social development and narrow interests
2005: Dysconnectivity with amygdala in autism demonstrated

2000-2004

2004: 'Prenatal Testosterone in Mind' (MIT Press)
2003: Mind Reading DVD for teaching emotion recognition (jkp.com)
2003: The Empathy Quotient (EQ) and Systemizing Quotient (SQ)
2003: The Essential Difference (Penguin)
2003: Amygdala lesions impair ToM demonstrated
2002: The prenatal testosterone theory of autism
2002: The 'empathizing-systemizing (E-S)' theory of sex differences
2002: Linking foetal testosterone (FT) to eye-contact and vocabulary development
2002: The 'extreme male brain' (EMB) theory of autism
2001: Dimensionalizing autistic traits on the Autism Spectrum Quotient (AQ)
2001: Linking mathematical talent to AQ
2001: Prevalence of Asperger Syndrome in childhood reported as 1 in 166.
2001: Understanding Other Minds-Second edition (OUP)
2001: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test - Revised
2000: Establishment of the Cambridge Lifespan Asperger Syndrome Service (CLASS)
2000: Neonatal sex differences in social interest

1995-1999

1999: Establishing the rate of Tourette Syndrome in autism
1999: The amygdala theory of the brain basis of ToM in autism
1999: Reliability of early diagnosis of autism established
1998: Superior attention to detail in autism demonstrated
1997: The extreme male brain (EMB) theory of autism
1997: Teaching children with autism to mind-read (Wiley).
1997: The broader autism phenotype identified in parents
1997: Autism linked to parents or siblings who are high 'systemizers'
1997: The Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test
1996: Population study of the CHAT
1995: Mindblindness (MIT Press).

1990-1994

1994: The orbito-frontal cortex (OFC) theory of the brain basis of ToM in autism
1993: Understanding Other Minds (OUP)
1992: Gaze-direction as a cue to ToM identified
1992: Lowering the age of diagnosis of autism to 18 months old in 'baby sibs' using the Checklist for Autism in Toddlers (CHAT)

1985-1989

1989: Joint-attention recognized as a key developmental precursor to ToM
1989: The 'specific developmental delay' hypothesis of autism
1988: Pragmatic impairment demonstrated
1987: Pretend play deficits demonstrated
1985: The 'theory of mind' (ToM) hypothesis of autism