For many decades, autism was considered to be a rare condition. However, the reported prevalence of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has considerably increased during the past decade, with recent estimates being in the range of 1.0 – 1.5%. The marked increase in ASD prevalence has stimulated worldwide interest in autism research. The aim of our symposium is to bring together new findings from neurobiology and psychopathology of autism, with some overlap to genetics and pediatrics, two important allied disciplines of child and adolescent psychiatry. Michal Hrdlicka will introduce the concept of latent social skills in autism and present some proofs of this concept. The presentation held by Roberto Canitano will deal with a new experimental procedure in ASD and Schizophrenia Spetrum Disorders based onSself ecognition through a custom made mirror. Rainald Moessner will present data on the overlap of the genetic etiology of ASD and schizophrenia with a particular focus on monogenic causes. Vincent Guinchat and his associates will demonstrate in their presentation that challenging behaviors among adolescents with ASD may be associated with gut inflammation.