Comments on: Older Parents and the “Risk” of Autism

By: Younger Dads, Healthier Child?

Younger Dads, Healthier Child? — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:45:00 +0000

[...] been studies about older parents, both fathers and mothers, being more “at risk” of having an autistic child, and [...]

By: Older Parents, 1st Born Child: Autism More Likely?

Older Parents, 1st Born Child: Autism More Likely? — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:13:36 +0000

[...] born child—-older mother—-older father: Such a child is three times more likely to develop autism than third- or [...]

By: Longevity Science

Longevity Science — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:35:52 +0000

Thank you for your interesting post! I thought perhaps you may also find this related scientific study interesting to you: Human Longevity and Parental Age at Conception http://longevity-science.org/Parental_Age_2000.pdf

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 02:00:01 +0000

lara, I found it odd too that parents’ age keeps coming up as a factor, rather as the “TV causes autism” theory has been.

By: daedalus2u

daedalus2u — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 22:13:26 +0000

I was refering to this study by Bauman.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=16134032&query_hl=11&itool=pubmed_docsum

They rank different stresses and compare them and it looks like there was a lot more “stress” in the ASD pregnancies.

By: lara

lara — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:55:07 +0000

I just realized I didn’t specifically point out that my second son is not on the spectrum either.

By: lara

lara — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:53:57 +0000

I don’t know about that maternal stress theory either, daedalus. My first pregnancy was awesome. I was pregnant with my second son when my first was diagnosed. If stress could have been a trigger, he wouldn’t have stood a chance.

In any case, given my experience and that of several other young moms I’ve met through the years, it just seems very odd to me that this age things keeps popping up.

By: Kristina Chew, PhD

Kristina Chew, PhD — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:51:08 +0000

daedalus2u, I had thought about the increased incidence in first born—–I never know what to make of these studies, as (within my range of acquaintances) there seems to be a thorough mix of parental age and of where a child occurs in the birth order.

By: SageMother

SageMother — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 13:38:38 +0000

I think they are also seeing the luck of the genetics “draw”.

By: daedalus2u

daedalus2u — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 11:36:11 +0000

There is increased incidence in first born. Presumably that is an “environmental” factor and not a genetic factor. First time mothers are often really stressed out. Perhaps more so if they are very young, or very old.

If maternal “stress” were involved, this is what we would expect to observe.