In the article, “More Differences Than Similarities Are Found in Autistic Siblings”, that was in New York Times the topic was about
autism and genetics. The original thought was that siblings with autism would
have autism that is similar to each other, which they realized was not true. The
study was done with 85 families, using their whole-genome sequence, which they
mainly focuses on around 100 genetic glitches that were associated with autism.
The data that surprised the researchers was that only about 30 percent of the
siblings shared the same mutation. The way hospitals analyze the genetics is
not affective and they are hoping that this data can change that. The example
they showed was that when a family had one autistic child and one with no
developmental problems and the doctors were assessing the chances of having
another autistic child, although not a great chance, the family did have
another autistic child and they expected both of their autistic children to be
alike. That was where they were wrong, the two autistic children were
opposites, one was friendly, loved electronics, and always on the move and the
other was shy, not into electronics, and like to stay in one place. The study
was effective; the outcome was just shocking to the researchers. The 30:70
ratio may have been skewed, but they still believe that it is still true that
more are different than alike, the way all siblings are.
Since it is National Autism Awareness Month, I found this
article appropriate. Although I do not have anyone in my family that is
affected by autism, I have gone to a local special services school to volunteer
and worked with children with disabilities, many of which had autism, and I loved
working with them and they did have siblings there and they were completely
different. So it was cool to see that they article made a point that many
autistic siblings are not always similar to each other, just as other siblings
are not even though autistic siblings have a mutation. The more we understand
autism, the easier it may be on families, so the more research done, the
better.
I also wrote a blog post on this study and thought that it was quite interesting. It is so surprising that siblings don't have the same mutations. You think that they would, but for some reason they don't. Hopefully this can give some insight for treatment of Autism. I know that it affects many families and can sometimes be a challenge for those families. Any help and information the families affected by autism receive the better off they will be.
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