In this project, Stanford is studying families with two or more siblings with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. Multiple-incidence families are urgently needed. Participation entails 1-2 days of interviews and observations, typically at the family's home, and obtaining a blood sample from family members. This is a collaborative effort by several NIH-funded centers to conduct molecular genetics studies of the genes underlying autism. Each of the centers is seeking families with more than one individual with autism, in either the nuclear or extended family, for participation in ongoing studies.
Participation involves several interviews, a brief exam of the children and a small blood sample.
Participants will not be expected to travel or to pay expenses incurred due to participation. The University of California, Irvine. Families of children with autism from age two to pre-adolescence are needed. The University of Rochester. The studies also evaluate multiplex families in which the affected relatives are cousins, parents, aunts, uncles or other close relatives for specific genetic mutations expected on the basis of this new theory.