study<\/a> published this month in the journal Nature Genetics.<\/p>\nAdvertisement – Continue Reading Below<\/p>\n
More than a third of children with autism in the study were in what the researchers dubbed the \u201cSocial and Behavioral Challenges\u201d group. These children display core autism traits like social difficulty and repetitive behaviors and often have co-occurring conditions like attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, but tend to reach developmental milestones on schedule.<\/p>\n
The \u201cModerate Challenges\u201d group, which included about 34% of kids studied, experience a similar trajectory, but with milder presentations and no co-occurring psychiatric conditions. A third group known as \u201cMixed ASD with Developmental Delay\u201d accounted for the roughly 19% of kids studied who exhibited delayed walking, talking and other developmental milestones, but without signs of anxiety, depression or disruptive behaviors.<\/p>\n
A final group described as \u201cBroadly Affected\u201d had more extreme and wide-ranging challenges including developmental delays, social and communication difficulties, repetitive behaviors and co-occurring psychiatric conditions. About 10% of kids with autism fell into this category.<\/p>\n
The study found clear genetic patterns to explain the different presentations. The Broadly Affected group had the highest proportion of problematic de novo mutations, those that are not passed down from either parent, the findings show. By contrast, individuals in the Mixed ASD with Developmental Delay group were more likely to have rare inherited genetic variants.<\/p>\n
Notably, in the Social and Behavioral Challenges group, researchers found mutations in genes that typically activate later in childhood, which could explain why children in this group are often diagnosed at older ages.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis study shows us that autism isn\u2019t a single condition with a single cause,\u201d said Dr. Andy Shih, chief science officer at Autism Speaks. \u201cIt\u2019s a spectrum made up of many different experiences, challenges and underlying biology. By understanding those differences, we can work toward better care that is matched to each person\u2019s unique needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
While the study identified four autism subtypes, the researchers said there could be more and that unlocking this information may have significant implications for families.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnderstanding genetic causes for more individuals with autism could lead to more targeted developmental monitoring, precision treatment and tailored support and accommodations at school or work,\u201d said Jennifer Foss-Feig, a coauthor of the study and a clinical psychologist at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai who also serves as vice president and senior scientific officer at the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. \u201cIt could tell families, when their children with autism are still young, something more about what symptoms they might \u2014 or might not \u2014 experience, what to look out for over the course of a lifespan, which treatments to pursue and how to plan for their future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are at least four distinct subtypes of autism, a new study finds, helping to explain the various…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[1490,200,79],"class_list":["post-24092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-genetics","tag-autism","tag-genetics","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}