The same problem hasn't been as visible in other types of
autism, but many believe the phenomenon is somewhat similar. The
drug was deemed successful in mice and is now being tested in
children and adults. In small, early studies, the drug made a
striking difference in small groups of Fragile X children,
causing hermit-like youngsters to start hanging out in the
kitchen to chat with their mothers, said Dr. Paul Wang,
Seaside's vice president of clinical development. Now it is
being tried in a preliminary study of about 150 children with a
range of other autism disorders, including Asperger's. The
results are expected to be presented at a scientific conference
in the next year. "It's going to be an exciting time, we hope,"
when those results come in, said Dawson, from Autism Speaks. But
even genetics enthusiasts acknowledge that genes are only part
of the answer. Studies of identical twins have shown that autism
can occur in one and not the other, meaning something outside a
child's DNA is triggering the disor