Clinic Notes: Making Sense of Autism Research

As a clinician, who also does research into the etiology (causes) of autism, I am often overwhelmed by the explosion of research findings. Which findings are useful in diagnosis? Which findings are useful in revising treatment options? Which findings are useful in designing future studies? It is simply too much--too much data in too many places with no organization. I was thrilled to read about the National Institute of Health's (NIH) new autism database. The National Database for Autism Research (NDAR) that will have research findings in one place that can be accessed by clinicians and researchers. As I read further though I was less thrilled. The database will only contain data from NIH sponsored research and will not be operational until 2012. Oh well, one small step . . .