Genetic Research in Speech Sound Disorders: Phenotype Issues and Recent Findings

By: Barbara A. Lewis (Case Western Reserve University), Lawrence D. Shriberg (University of Wisconsin, Madison)

Speech Sound Disorder is a Complex Trait.

Some genetic considerations when studying a complex human trait

• No single gene is responsible for the majority of cases or deficit of any particular developmental disorder.
• Multiple heterogeneous effects of risk genes may act alone or together to give rise to multiple profiles of skills culminating in the same diagnosis and general impairment on the surface.
• A single genetic defect may result in multiple problems if it is present early in development.
  

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