The team found that mothers passed only half of their structural variants on to their autistic children—a frequency that would be expected by chance alone—suggesting that variants inherited from mothers were not associated with autism. But surprisingly, fathers did pass on substantially more than 50% of their variants.

Can autism run in families?

ASD has a tendency to run in families, but the inheritance pattern is usually unknown. People with gene changes associated with ASD generally inherit an increased risk of developing the condition, rather than the condition itself.

Are autistic babies attached to parents?

It is thought that autistic children do not form attachments to parents or caregivers because of their difficulties in social interaction. Yet, the findings of the studies demonstrate evidences for the existence of attachment between autistic children and their caregivers.