What plays a bigger role in autism, genetics or environment? Scientists don't agree on the answer, but the debate just got more attention with the arrival of a new study of twins. When you look at extreme autism symptoms, genetics plays almost the only role, it concludes.
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Twins
Interview with Walter E. Kaufmann, M.D., the Director of the Center for Genetic Disorders of Cognition and Behavior at Kennedy Krieger Institute.
Researchers from the IAN Project, along with other researchers, have published an important paper in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine entitled "Characteristics and Concordance of Autism Spectrum Disorders Among 277 Twin Pairs." It is based on information provided by the families of twins to IAN Research.
There was a time when autism was believed to be entirely psychological, the result of rejecting, cold parenting. This was completely untrue, as scientists, researchers, and clinicians came to realize. It is now widely accepted that a complex combination of genetic factors plays some role in the Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASDs).