Health Discoveries Winter 2020 | Page 19

BY PHOEBE HALL ILLUSTRATION BY ILEANA SOON Personalized Treatment GENETIC TESTING CAN CHANGE THE CARE, AND THE LIVES, OF SOME PEOPLE WITH AUTISM. When Matt was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, 16 years ago, it helped explain some of the things that had been troubling his parents for much of his young life. “He was hitting milestones up until 10 months,” his mother, Bianca Rossi, recalls. (We have changed their names to protect their privacy.) But several months later, Matt was still nonverbal, and at his infant-toddler program “he did a lot of things alone, and didn’t play like the other toddlers did or with them,” she says. ➻ HEALTH DISCOVERIES l WINTER 2019    19