Looking for answers about your child's health?

Genetic testing may be able to help

Genetic testing for children with developmental delay and autism helps parents care for their child

Are you seeking more answers regarding your child's development? Developmental delay means that a child is missing his or her developmental milestones. For instance, not sitting, walking, or talking by the time their same-aged peers are. Remember, each child will develop at his/her own pace, but it may be best to act as soon as a pattern is noticed.

If developmental delay is detected early, many times it can be successfully treated. Genetic testing can help parents pinpoint the cause of their child's autism spectrum disorder or developmental delay and guide the child's treatment.

Children as young as the first year of life can be evaluated for developmental delay

Learn the signs

How can testing help my child?

Without genetic testing, it may be difficult for parents to know the true cause of your child's autism and developmental delay and get the most comprehensive medical management.

A genetic diagnosis will also help parents understand:

Recurrence risk - the chance that another family member could have the condition
Co-morbidity - Seemingly unrelated conditions, like heart disease or seizures, often found to co-occur with your child’s delay
Prognosis - How the condition is expected to progress

Benefits of testing

What test is right for my child?

Terms like "developmental delay" or "autism spectrum disorder" are broad descriptions of clinical features, but they don’t tell us the cause of those clinical features, which can make them challenging to treat.

Genetic testing can often help parents and providers identify the genetic abnormality underlying the developmental delay and autism spectrum disorder.

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Where do I begin?

If parents are concerned about their child's development, it is important to speak to trusted healthcare providers to create a specific diagnostic and treatment plan. Importantly, a genetic test can help determine whether there is an underlying genetic condition and provide specific information that may guide those diagnostic and treatment plans.

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Does insurance cover testing?

Insurance often does cover testing, but it may require a lengthy appeals process that can last months or even a year or more. Lineagen's patient advocate team handles the entire insurance process so families and providers don’t have to.

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Developmental delay is a term that describes a child who is behind in his or her milestones. Those milestones can be physical in nature or they might be cognitive, or learning-based.

Rena Vanzo