What Is The Autism-Genetics Connection?in the development of autism. Individuals with Rett’s Disorder , which is one type of autism, have been found to have a defect on their MDCP2 gene. This gene is located on the X chromosome. However, no other gene(s) have been implicated as a cause of autism at this time. A sibling has a 3-5% probability of being affected by autism whereas a child in the general population has a 0.6% chance of being affected by autism. The likelihood that an identical twin of an autistic child would also develop autism is anywhere from about 40-85% depending on the study. However, the likelihood that a fraternal twin of an autistic child would also develop autism is only about 10%. Boys are affected by autism about 3-5 times as often as girls. These statistics suggest an autism-genetics link may exist even though no specific gene(s) have yet been determined for other types of autism. However, the increasing rate of autism (over 500% from 1990-2000) does not support genetics as the entire cause of autism. Rather, it is more likely that individuals who may be predisposed toward autism by heredity factors develop autism after an environmental exposure. An environmental etiology rather than a purely genetic model for autism is great news because it means that treatments for autism are possible! Return HOME
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