Adaptive behaviour refers to the everyday skills that individuals are expected to have to function independently, based on their age and societal norms. Currently, we know little about the role of genetic and environmental factors in parent-rated adaptive behaviours in early infancy. The aim of this study was to investigate the aetiological…

This study is concerned with ways in which children with Williams syndrome (WS), a rare neurodevelopmental disorder arising from a hemizygous deletion in chromosome band 7q11.23 including the gene for elastin (ELN) and approximately 20 surrounding genes, are affected by social mores of vastly differing cultures: the United States and Japan. WS…

Two types of behaviours shown in children--those reflecting social impairment and nonsocial obsessive repetitive behaviours--are central to defining and diagnosing autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Parent and teacher data on social and nonsocial behaviours were obtained from a community sample of greater than 3000 7-year-old twin pairs. Social and…