Older Parents and the Autism Spectrum

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A few months ago, I read an article where one researcher posited that the increased age of one or both parents could raise the odds of having the child being on the autism spectrum.

I am currently 26 years old. When I was born, my father was 56 years old and my mother 37 years old. Throughout my schooling years, I was the sole student of all my classes to have a father that was a World War II veteran.

Does anyone have a similar experience to share?

I was born when my mother turned 17 and my father turned 19. That's when I was born.

I have a pretty serious form of aspergers so I doubt that theory has little relation with age. Interesting none-the-less though.

Hi David

Here is an article on it on USA Today:

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/200 ... tism_N.htm


I'm sure this information can be found with other credible sources as well.

I HATE the blithering idiots that observe something, extrapolate ridiculous things, and then act like they discovered the cure for polio. STUPID!! !! !!

Let's see..... **********WHAT MALE********* wants be an old father?

1. One that wants to build an empire(like kings).
2. One that just married after previous marriages, and wants the wife to father a child.(Like tony randall)
3. Someone that sees it as the last chance.

OBVIOUSLY, #3 is going to have a lot of people with autistic tendencies.

SO, are they allowing for that? Probably not! So maybe it is just genetic. It IS interesting how they NEVER implicated the fathers age before. The male gametes are so relatively complex and fragile, and are replaced constantly. you would think errors would be relatively rare, and most would render it incapable of creating a child. So it seems unlikely that mere age would create an observable connection. It is FAR more likely that they are autistic people that married late. After all, MOST autistic males will marry late. Many women are skittish and beat around the bush, so they are less likely to marry an obviously autistic person, and the autistic person is less likely to approach.

no. heres my real dad i think hes in his 40's now, the dude on the right. (doesnt he look like hes just one sober guy?) the other guy is my uncle/