single spontaneous mutation that impacts one or multiple genes is a significant contributing factor. Tens of individual genes or mutations have been definitively identified and are cataloged by the Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative. Examples of autism that has arisen from a rare or de novo mutation in a single-gene or locus include the neurodevelopmental disorders fragile X syndrome, 22q13 deletion syndrome, and 16p11.2 deletion syndrome. These mutations themselves are characterized by considerable variability in clinical outcome and typically only a subset of mutation carriers meet criteria for autism. For example, carriers of the 16p11.2 deletion have a mean IQ 32 points lower than their first-degree relatives that do not carry the deletion, however only 20% are below the threshold IQ of 70 for intellectual disability, and only 20% have autism. Around 85% have a neurobehavioral diagnosis, including autism, ADHD, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, gross motor delay, and epilepsy, while 15% have no diagnosis. Alongside these neurobehavioral phenotypes, the 16p11.2 deletions / duplications have been associated with macrocephaly / microcephaly, body weight regulation, and the duplication in particular is associated with schizophrenia. Controls that carry mutations associated with autism or schizophrenia typically present with intermediate cognitive phenotypes or fecundity compared to neurodevelopmental cases and population controls. Therefore, a single mutation can have multiple different effects depending on other genetic and environmental factors. Multigene interactions In this model, autism often arises from a combination of common, functional variants of genes. Each gene contributes a relatively small effect in increasing the risk of autism. In this model, no single gene directly regulates any core symptom of autism such as social behavior. Instead, each gene encodes a protein that disrupts a cellular process, and the combination of these disruptions, possibly together with environmental influences, affect key developmental processes such as synapse formation. For example, one model is that many mutations affect MET and other receptor tyrosine kinases, which in turn converge on disruption of ERK and PI3K signaling. Two family types In this model most families fall into two types: in the majority, sons have a low risk of autism, but in a small minority their risk is near 50%. In the low-risk families, sporadic autism is mainly caused by spontaneous mutation with poor penetrance in daughters and high penetrance in sons. The high-risk families come from (mostly female) children who carry a new causative mutation but are unaffected and transmit the dominant