I found some interesting links:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20473590
Quote:
J Autism Dev Disord. 2011 Jan;41(1):23-31.
Morphological features in children with autism spectrum disorders: a matched case-control study.
Abstract
This study was designed to examine morphological features in a large group of children with autism spectrum disorder versus normal controls. Amongst 421 patients and 1,007 controls, 224 matched pairs were created. Prevalence rates and odds ratios were analyzed by conditional regression analysis, McNemar test or paired t-test matched pairs. Morphological abnormalities were significantly more prevalent in patients with autism than in the normal control group and 48 morphological features distinguished patients from controls. Our findings show that morphological features are associated with autism. Exploring potential underlying genetic mechanisms of this association might lead to a better understanding of autism.
And this blog post summarizes the above article:
http://daisymayfattypants.blogspot.com/ ... es-of.htmlQuote:
Are there really physical features of autism?
A study that came out in May compared 224 autistic children with intelligence in the normal range and 224 age-matched non-autistic children. According to their findings, several features occurred among the group of autistic children but were absent among the neurotypical group, including:
* Brachycephaly (flat, wide head; TH had this from back sleeping, but his fontanelles didn't close until very late, rather than too early)
* Mouth asymmetry
* Ear lobe crease
* Asymmetry of the eyes
* A large mouth
* Limited facial expression (only in new social situations)
* An abnormal whorl (TH has a piebald hair color distribution; he has a neurotypical cousin with double whorls)
* A prominent lower jaw
Further, certain features occurred in the ASD group with relatively high frequency, including:
* Sandal gap toes
* An abnormal frontal hair whorl
* Attached earlobes
* A high, narrow palate
* Hypermobile joints
According to one report on the study, these features were more common among boys with ASD compared to girls, and the authors draw a potential link to copy number variations, or CNVs, a focus that has moved to the fore in responsible autism research. In brief, carrying different numbers of copies of the same DNA sequence might produce different outcomes or combinations of outcomes.
I've boldfaced the features that TH shares with these children. How do you or your child stack up?
Posted by Emily at 5:37 PM
I definitely don't have a large jaw or mouth, and I don't think I'm hypermobile, but I think I fit most of the rest of that list.
I guess these "hey, I got a funny bump on my head, is that related to ASD?" threads aren't
always ridiculous.