Nature has a supplement out with a number of articles on autism. 10 articles in the “outlook” section are available online for free
Autism
Herb Brody
Nature 491, S1 (01 November 2012)
Epidemiology: Complex disorder
Virginia Hughes
Nature 491, S2–S3 (01 November 2012)
Genetics: Searching for answers
Sarah C. P. Williams
Nature 491, S4–S6 (01 November 2012)
Child development: The first steps
Katherine Bourzac
Nature 491, S7–S9 (01 November 2012)
Adulthood: Life lessons
Lindsay Borthwick
Nature 491, S10–S11 (01 November 2012)
Diagnosis: Redefining autism
Emily Singer
Nature 491, S12–S13 (01 November 2012)
Treatments: In the waiting room
Michael Eisenstein
Nature 491, S14–S16 (01 November 2012)
Perspective: Imaging autism
Nicholas Lange
Nature 491, S17 (01 November 2012)
Culture: Diverse diagnostics
Sarah DeWeerdt
Nature 491, S18–S19 (01 November 2012)
Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink
Ben Deen Kevin Pelphrey
Nature 491, S20 (01 November 2012)
The articles are written for a general audience and cover issues ranging from changes with the DSM 5 to possible artifacts in brain imaging studies to cultural aspects of autism. The articles are relatively short and accessible. Some were written by researchers (e.g. Perspective: Brain scans need a rethink) and some by science writers (e.g. Epidemiology: Complex disorder, by Virginia Hughes, one of my favorite writers). For people looking for a little more on what is going on in autism research but not looking for technical papers, this is a great resource.
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Matt Carey
Left Brain Right Brain 
Why so much emphasis on genetics – it seems the environmental factors are being ignored in research
Edith, why do you think one article out of nine is too much of an emphasis? It is also mentioned in a couple of other articles in general, so how is that an emphasis?