An MRI study of minor physical anomalies in autism.

Hardan et al. (2006) took brain scans of kids with autism and kids without.

They measured the space between the eye sockets on each scan.

They also split the autism group by IQ to see if that changed the picture.

Across the whole autism group, eye-space size looked the same as in controls.

Only the lower-IQ autism kids had clearly closer eyes on the scans.

So close-set eyes are not a blanket autism marker; IQ level matters.

Handleman et al. (1980) first linked more minor body anomalies and lower IQ in autism.

Hardan et al. (2006) now show the same link with MRI eye-space, updating the 1980 clue.

Angkustsiri et al. (2011) used photos and also found a dysmorphic autism subgroup with more medical issues.

Ozgen et al. (2011) counted 48 small body differences in autism, backing the wider anomaly idea.

If you assess a child with autism and notice close-set eyes, think lower IQ and plan fuller medical screening. Do not use eye spacing alone to flag autism; it only signals risk in kids who already test low on cognitive scores.