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The Siblings of Autism
About a million years ago, a kind doctor told me the best thing we could do for Jack was to give him siblings. A lot of people ask me how we decided to have more kids once we knew something was up with him. I wish I had a more sophisticated answer to give, but the truth is, we just didn’t know...
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Siblings Realize They’re Not Alone: AHRC NYC Sibshops Unveil Common Challenges
Lori Jacobs recalled a conversation with her younger son Seth, whose brother Ian has high-functioning autism and mood disorders. “Seth said, ‘Promise me I won’t have to take care of him when I grow up. And please, promise me you have a plan for him,’” Lori said. This wasn’t the type...
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Genome Testing for Siblings of Individuals May Aid in a Diagnosis Before Symptoms Appear
One of the key priorities of interventions for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is starting early, with some evidence showing infants as young as seven months old could benefit. Yet, most children in North America aren’t diagnosed with ASD until they’re over four years of age. New research led by...
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Five Tips on How to Best Support a Sibling of a Child with Autism Spectrum Disorder
Being the sibling of a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other medical or developmental diagnoses can have its challenges, but it can also provide opportunities in building resiliency and compassion towards family members and others. The Center for Autism & Neurodevelopmental...
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Autism Science Foundation Announces Expansion of the Autism Sisters Project – 3 New Grants Awarded to Search for the Female Protective Effect
The Autism Science Foundation (ASF), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to catalyzing innovative autism research, announced the launch of three new multi-year research grants to expand the Autism Sisters Project at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF) and the Broad Institute in...
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Providing a Safe Haven for Special Siblings
We know that, in most families, the longest lasting relationship one has is with his or her sibling. When one of those siblings has a special need, the dynamic of this lifetime relationship can be significantly impacted. For some, a brother or sister learns to quickly adapt to new routines of...
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“Give a Spit” to Help Scientists Uncover the “Female Protective Effect” for Autism
For years, we’ve known that four times as many boys as girls are diagnosed with autism. More recently, genetic research has surprisingly shown that the various genes that cause autism are equally distributed in boys and girls. So what explains this difference - why do some girls who have the...
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Psychiatric Problems Common in Siblings of People with Autism
Psychiatric problems crop up more than twice as often in families that include a child with autism as in the general population. That’s the upshot of the most sweeping study to date of mental health in siblings of children with autism. The findings suggest that clinicians should look...
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Risk of Recurrence of Autism in Younger Siblings Higher Than Thought
The risk that an infant with an older sibling with autism also will develop the disorder, previously estimated at between 3 and 10 percent, is substantially higher at approximately 19 percent, a large, international, multi-site study led by researchers at the UC Davis MIND Institute has found....
