Hundreds of genetic variants contribute to risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet some of these risk factors can also be found within the general population in individuals showing no signs of neuropsychiatric symptoms. How then do genetic variations contribute to the broad behavioral and social spectrum present in the general population and to the social and behavioral deficits in individuals with ASD? To address this issue, SFARI Investigator Mark Daly and his colleagues used data from a previous genome-wide association study (GWAS) of social and communication difficulties in a general population cohort (the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children) and compared this with common genetic variants associated with ASD. The ASD data were obtained from two large and independent GWAS from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC) and the Lundbeck Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research (iPSYCH) project. Daly and his colleagues also assessed associations between rare de novo variants and behaviors in ASD and unaffected individuals from the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC). Daly’s results indicate that both inherited and de novo genetic risk factors for ASD influence social and communication abilities within the general population. These data suggest that future studies of neuropsychiatric disease risk should assess a continuum of behavioral and developmental traits.