MORE FROM THE STACKS
EDITOR’S NOTE: There are literally thousands of journals published around the world that relate to the disability community. It is virtually impossible to capture even a fraction of them. HELEN receives "stacks" of journals and selectively earmarks what we feel are "must read" articles of interest for our readers. It's a HELEN perk!
Stuttering Has Deep Genetic Roots and May Affect Your Ability to Clap to a Beat
A massive genetic study found that stuttering is not just about nurture and may link to processing rhythm itself.
By Tibi Puiu (From Nature Genetics - 09/29/2025 )
In the largest genetic investigation of its kind, scientists have uncovered 57 regions of the genome associated with stuttering. The findings now provide the clearest picture yet of the biological roots of a condition affecting tens of millions of people worldwide.
The study analyzed DNA from more than 1.1 million individuals and reveals that stuttering shares genetic ties with other brain-related traits, including autism, depression, and an unexpected link: musical rhythm.
“This is the first time we’ve been able to see the broad, complex genetic landscape of stuttering,” said Jennifer Below, a geneticist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and senior author of the study. “Rather than being caused by personal or familial failings or intelligence, our study shows that stuttering is influenced by our genes.”
Is Stuttering Mostly Genetic?
Stuttering — characterized by repetitions, sound prolongations, and speech blocks — has often been misunderstood, blamed on nervousness or parenting. It affects roughly 1% of adults globally, and about 5% of children, many of whom recover naturally. But for some, the disorder persists into adulthood, sometimes shaping the course of their lives.
The causes of persistent stuttering have remained elusive. Partly because the condition doesn’t cause physical illness or death, it has historically received little research funding.
That began to change when Below noticed an interesting question in 23andMe’s consumer genetic survey: “Have you ever had a stammer or stutter?” So, she and collaborator Shelly Jo Kraft of Wayne State University leapt at the chance to work with the company’s vast dataset.
Their analysis included 99,776 people who said “yes” to that question and over one million who said “no.” The researchers further divided the participants by sex and genetic ancestry, creating eight groups in total.
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By examining millions of genetic variants, they identified 57 genomic regions, which scientists call ‘loci’, strongly associated with stuttering. These mapped to 48 genes and differed between men and women. As such, the data hinted at sex-specific mechanisms for why males are more likely to have persistent stuttering.
Justice Department Sues Uber for Denying Rides to Passengers with Service Dogs, Wheelchairs
The Justice Department recently sued Uber Technologies, Inc. under Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act for discriminating against passengers with disabilities, including blind individuals who use service animals and those who use mobility devices including stowable wheelchairs, by routinely refusing to serve these individuals, imposing impermissible charges, and refusing to reasonably modify Uber’s policies to avoid discrimination.
To read more, please read our press release. For more information on the ADA, please visit ADA.gov or call the toll-free ADA Information Line Department’s toll-free ADA Information Line at 1-800-514-0301 (1-833-610-1264 (TTY)).
What Really Causes Autism and What We Should Do About It
By Robert Klitzman (Hastings Bioethics Forum – 08/26/2025)
I recently met Billy, a 12-year-old boy with severe autism. He had been growing well but, at around age 3, he became increasingly delayed in speaking and walking. As he got older, he would frequently scream unconsolably when upset. and have temper tantrums and meltdowns, spilling and throwing food all around him, and difficulty understanding spoken language or learning. Eventually, testing showed that he had an IQ of 70—in the category of intellectual disability.
To determine the cause of his difficulties, his parents entered a study, through which I met him. As part of the study Billy and his parents underwent genetic testing, which revealed that he had a new, or “de novo,” mutation that neither of his parents possessed, an error in the “cutting and pasting” of his DNA. As an embryo rapidly copies DNA, creating billions of cells to form an infant, mistakes occasionally get made. We each have about 1,000 such errors. The vast majority have no effect. But sometimes they do, causing various conditions, including autism. About 20% of autism cases, including Billy’s, result from a de novo genetic variation.
Recently, given Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s attacks on vaccines as the cause of autism, I have been thinking about Billy. Kennedy’s assaults, dissuading Americans from getting immunizations, are already causing outbreaks of measles and will soon likely spread otherwise preventable diseases, including polio and influenza, potentially killing thousands of Americans.
His critics have focused on why he shouldn’t attack vaccines, but crucial questions also arise about what does in fact cause autism and how to prevent and address it.
Autism spectrum disorder affects 1 in 31 eight-year-olds in the United States, and has been increasing for reasons that are not entirely clear. The theory that vaccines cause autism has, in fact, long been disproven. The only study that purported to support this theory was completely fabricated—the author claimed that 50% of children developed autism after getting vaccines, when in fact none of these children did so.
Instead, autism has been rising in large part due to better detection and expanded criteria for diagnosing it. Diagnosis also varies among socioeconomic groups (ranging from 1 in 103 in certain areas in Texas to around 1 in 19 in California), with much higher prevalence in wealthy than in poor families, and in white than Black families. There is no reason to think, however, that wealthy white people in fact are more likely to have autism than poorer Black individuals. Instead, the rates vary due to different rates of screening and detection. We are also now defining the condition far more broadly. Millions of children who had previously been diagnosed with intellectual disabilities are now considered autistic as well.
Environmental factors also play roles, including a mother’s obesity, older age, diabetes caused by pregnancy, polycystic ovary syndrome, and exposures to various pesticides and infections. Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (or “ICSI”), used as part of in-vitro fertilization, injects sperm directly into eggs to increase the odds of fertilization. It was developed and intended for use with men with low sperm counts, but it is now used in most IVF. It turns out to double the rate of intellectual disabilities and autism in the offspring.
Some autistic people argue that the cause does not matter, and that we instead just need greater acceptance. Unfortunately, society commonly stigmatizes autistic people, failing to accommodate them, impeding these individuals’ optimal functioning. Certainly, we should shift social attitudes and better accommodate neurodiverse people.
Yet knowledge that the cause of a child’s autism is genetic has helped countless people. Billy’s parents and many others found that learning the reason for their child’s symptoms reduced their guilt. Billy’s mother had feared that maybe the glass of wine she drank before she knew she was pregnant was the trigger.
Billy’s parents had been afraid to have another child because of the risk of autism. But the fact that Billy’s autism was a chance occurrence convinced them that they could have another child, if they wanted, and that the risk of the condition would not be elevated.
Genetic variations have not been identified for all autistic people—the science is still new. But the fact that numerous people have them should encourage us to continue to fund research seeking the causes, and potential medical or psychosocial interventions and services for people who may want them.
Unfortunately, while the Trump administration, through Kennedy, seeks to reduce autism with attacks on vaccines and intentions to reduce certain ingredients in food, the administration is also eliminating vital research at the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Institutes of Health, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discover the actual causes of autism and how to address them.
If our goal is indeed to decrease suffering from autism, we need to rely on facts, not assumptions and ideologies, and heighten efforts in schools and clinics to identify autistic children, especially those who are poorer and not white, to provide appropriate services for them. Yet, the Trump administration has gutted the Department of Education, which could lead, coordinate, and oversee such programs.
We should restore support for vaccines but also fund essential research to develop educational programs for schools and healthcare providers to enhance autism diagnosis, acceptance, accommodation, and services. Kennedy’s focus on vaccines will not only spread fatal infectious diseases but will also deprive countless autistic people and their families of what they need.
Robert Klitzman, MD, is a professor of psychiatry at the Vagelos College of Physicians & Surgeons, and director of the online and in-person Bioethics Masters and Certificate Programs at Columbia University, and a Hastings Center Fellow. He is the author of Doctor, Will You Pray for Me?: Medicine, Chaplains and Healing the Whole Person. @Robertklitzman @RobertKlitzman.bsky.social LinkedIn Robert-Klitzman