Jacobsen Syndrome is a chromosomal defect. ASD is diagnosed by the use of the following symptoms, poor communication skills, lack or responsiveness and behavioral and emotional management issues.
Mattson said that although the symptoms are similar:
“The point of our paper was that we found features consistent with ASD in our patients (that have Jacobsen syndrome) at a much higher rate than you would expect in the general population.”
Jacobsen syndrome because of its genetic cause can be diagnosed from early infancy whereas professionals are unable to diagnose ASD until behavioral signs and symptoms present themselves.
Mattson states that the overall goal is to study those patients with Jacobsen Syndrome in order to better understand which specific genetic abnormalities are present in infants and may be an pre-indicator of autism.
Now, with a link connecting the two conditions, children diagnosed with Jacobsen syndrome have a better chance of being diagnosed with ASD much earlier on, before the behavioral signs are present. Parents will then be able to seek intervention and therapies for their child at a much younger age.
The original article by Jaclyn Palumbo on the Daily Aztec can be read here