“Siblings of children with autism have more frequent language delays and other subtle characteristics of the disorder than previously understood. Girls also may be mildly affected more often than recognized in the past.  A new study, led by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, found mild traits, not strong enough to provoke a diagnosis of autism, seem to be present in the siblings of affected children at significantly higher rates than seen in the general population. The findings appear online and will be published in the November issue of The American Journal of Psychiatry. ”

“Mild symptoms, called quantitative traits, may be confounding studies that compare children with autism to their siblings,” says first author John N. Constantino, MD. “Researchers presume one child is affected, and the other is not, but our findings suggest that although one child may have autism while the other does not, it’s very possible both children are affected to some degree by genes that contribute to autism.”

“Genetic factors exert their influence in different ways. Some families have only a single child with autism and no other affected children. But in other families, more than one child may be affected, or other siblings may have a number of autism characteristics.
The study found that approximately one in five siblings thought to be unaffected experienced language delays or speech problems early in life. The researchers also noticed many female siblings had subtle traits, but few had full-blown autism spectrum disorders. Boys are thought to be affected four times more often than girls. But when the researchers used standardized methods to account for the presence of quantitative traits, the rate looked more like three affected boys for every two affected girls. ”

“The gender difference may not be as pronounced as we once thought it was,” Constantino says. “If we rely only on a professional diagnosis of autism to determine who is affected, then boys vastly outnumber girls. But it may be that many girls are being missed. The data comes from almost 3,000 U.S. children in 1,235 families who are part of the Interactive Autism Network, a national online research registry at www.IANproject.org. Developed by study co-author Paul Law, MD, director of medical informatics at Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, the network has more than 35,000 participants who share information to help advance autism research. ”

“For this study, parents provided information about their children using the Social Responsiveness Scale, a survey developed at Washington University that identifies traits associated with autism and autism spectrum disorders such as Asperger Syndrome and Pervasive Developmental Disorder. About 10 percent of children with autism have genetic mutations believed to directly lead to the disorder. In others, common gene variations create small increases in susceptibility. When a child has an accumulation of quantitative traits, that child will be diagnosed with autism or a related disorder, but siblings can have subtle quantitative traits without reaching the threshold for a diagnosis.”

Constantino JN, Zhang Y, Frazier T, Abbacchi AM, Law P. Sibling recurrence and the genetic epidemiology of autism. The American Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 167 (11), published online Oct. 1, 2010. http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org.
This work was supported by grants from the National Institute Child Health and Human Development of the National Institutes of Health. The Interactive Autism Network volunteer registry is supported by Autism Speaks.
Constantino receives royalties from Western Psychological Services for the commercial distribution of the Social Responsiveness Scale, but no royalties were generated by any of the assessments performed for this study.
Source: Washington University in St. Louis. All rights reserved. ”

Article originally posted at http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/203249.php

The Speech Therapy Solutions Spring Workshop will be hosted from  6 – 8 pm at:

Premier Collaborations Child Development Center
100 JetPlex Blvd., Huntsville, AL 35824
Telephone:  (256) 464-8405

ASHA is hosting this this informative online conference from March 1 – 15, 2010 for speech-language pathologists around the world. The focus of this conference “ is on assessment, diagnosis, and intervention for children and young adults with autism spectrum disorders (age 2–21), addressing the full range of communication levels. Expert speakers address topics in assessment/diagnosis, intervention approaches, and service delivery models, all with an emphasis on the SLP’s role,” explains ASHA.org.

Maura Edwards, owner of Speech Therapy Solutions in Huntsville and Madison, Alabama and other participating Speech Therapists have been learning about the most recent Autism-related research and the latest methods for helping their client-families and communities productively live with and overcome the effects of Autism.

Do you have a question for the pros that know about Autism? Speech Therapy Solutions has access to the conference’s speakers so submit your Autism questions using the contact form on Speech Therapy Solutions!