Why are non-autistic family members asked to participate in behavioral assessments?
While prior molecular genetic studies have tended to simply consider individuals as affected or unaffected with autism, this study will employ a more powerful approach of measuring very subtle behavioral characteristics among all available family members, with the goal of measuring genetically meaningful characteristics related to autism, which may be examined in relation to molecular markers. For this reason, parents are asked to complete questionnaires on their children and on themselvess. Furthermore, we will administer behavioral tests to all available family members.
