(Medical Xpress)—In the first molecular genetic study of families with a history of both language impairment and autism, scientists may have uncovered a shared origin for the two conditions, an important step toward explaining why some cases of autism are accompanied by language difficulties and others are not. The study, a collaboration of The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital with experts at Rutgers University, indicates that a disorder called specific language impairment—one of the most common developmental delays in children—may be caused by the same genetic variants that lead to language difficulties in some children with autism. The findings are published Oct. 30 in the American Journal of Psychiatry.
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