Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by impairments in reciprocal social interaction and communication, and restricted and stereotyped pattern of interests and activities.
Developmental difficulties are apparent before three years of age.
The neurobiological basis of the disorder is unknown and there are no strong candidate genes. Further families are currently being ascertained to replicate these findings. The regions of interest have been followed up by genotyping closely spaced markers in the 7q region and in the 16p region, confirming the initial linkage findings. To identify the susceptibility loci we are using linkage disequilibrium mapping and a positional candidate strategy.