Autistic children born preterm often show more complex needs—but share similar genetic background

Autistic children born preterm often show more complex needs—but share similar genetic background

A new study shows that children born preterm who are later diagnosed with autism often present with more extensive support needs and a higher number of co-occurring conditions than autistic children born at full term. Surprisingly, however, the researchers found no differences in genetic variants across the genome, nor in specific genes already linked to autism, between the groups—a result that contradicted their initial hypothesis.