31% Of People With Four Genetic Conditions Have Increased Chance Of Autism, A Majority Some Autism Symptoms

Nearly a third of people with one of four rare genetic copy number variants (CNVs) have a high risk of autism. About 54% of those with these CNVs who did not meet criteria for autism, meet the clinical criteria for at least one autism diagnostic domain: social, communication, or repetitive behaviors. Male CNV carriers had a 2.3 times higher risk of autism compared to female CNV carriers.

The risk of autism due to the genetic CNVs was determined in a study that included 547 individuals who were carriers of one of the four CNVs: 16p11.2 deletion (82 people . . .