Autism Isn’t As Similar As We Think

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.