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ASD in the “next generation” of siblings

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Times have changed. Once, parents of a child with autism were concerned about autism in younger siblings. Now those parents are grandparents, and worried about autism in their children’s children. Siblings of autistic adults are considering having children of their own and wondering what they should be prepared for when they have kids of their own. This week, Natasha Marrus from Washington University School of Medicine talks about her new study looking at the increase in probability of ASD in infants who have an aunt or an uncle with ASD. The results are not surprising, but they do have implications for actionable steps.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006322320313846?via%3Dihub

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In autism, what does protection mean?

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Some autistics are offended by the word “protection” when it comes to autism, but in addition to things increasing the probability of a diagnosis, some things reduce the probability?  This week’s podcast explores the female protective effect as well as a new study from the BASIS study in the UK looking at early regulatory function as a protective factor in ASD and ADHD traits.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31347307

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31351456

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Genes, environment and heritability: why does it matter?

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This week a 5 country collaboration including the largest number of people EVER revealed 80% of the causes of autism are heritable. This is incredibly important to understand autism and move forward with research that matters to families.  What it did not do was calculate the role of gene x environment interactions which seems to be the forgotten stepchild of autism research.  This week’s #ASFpodcast explains why it is important to understand the heritability while at the same time study the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors.

https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapsychiatry/fullarticle/2737582?guestAccessKey=d82b0145-f179-48bd-91bb-f77865732c3c&utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_content=tfl&utm_term=071719