[Source:  Disability Scoop]

Newly available genetic testing may offer answers for about 16 percent of children with autism, according to a new study that’s lending support for more widespread use of the analyses.
With scientists rapidly identifying genes with ties to autism, researchers looked at two types of genetic testing. The results were encouraging, according to Bridget Fernandez, a medical geneticist at Memorial University in Newfoundland who worked on the study published Tuesday in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Fernandez and her colleagues assessed 258 kids with autism using chromosomal microarray analysis, a relatively new test that’s considered first-tier for those on the spectrum. Meanwhile, 95 of the children also participated in whole-exome sequencing, an even newer test that is just starting to be adopted in regular clinal practice.
What’s more, the researchers conducted extensive physical exams to determine how many minor physical anomalies the children had since the presence of several can be a sign of an underlying genetic difference.
Chromosomal microarray analysis yielded results for 24 of the children while eight kids received a diagnosis from whole-exome sequencing, the study found. Two received a molecular-based diagnosis from both tests.
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