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"Don't dis the ABILITY."  Jerry Komar, Editor Autism News and Views


Contributing Factors To Autism: What We Now Know

Within the last week, we've seen a study that suggests autism could be linked with mothers' obesity during pregnancy. Just a week earlier, news broke that the incidence of autism is actually 1 in 88, not 1 in 110. So these studies and more beg the next question: What do we NOW know about contributing factors to autism? We know the following with a high degree of certainty:

• We now know that about 15-20% of children have a genetic mutation that causes autism.
• We now know if parents have one child with autism, the risk of having a second child diagnosed with autism is almost 20% (U.C. Davis study)
• We also found that environmental pollution may be a factor in autism.
• We now know that both older fathers and mothers are a higher risk of having a child with autism. Studies from Harvard and Israel also suggest that infertility treatments are linked to a higher risk of autism.
• Prematurity and low birthweight (babies weighing less than 41/2 pounds ) was found to be linked to autism. 5% had been diagnosed with autism by age 21.
• Studies suggest that some medications increase the risk of autism. For example, a study published last year suggested children exposed prenatally to antidepressants had a higher risk of autism.
• Pediatrics released a study this week that suggests obesity during pregnancy would increase the incidence of autism to a 1 in 53 chance. (Note: While this study suggests maternal obesity may be a risk factor for autism, keep in mind it's only one of many and may not even be a strong link).

(USA TODAY & Washington Post)


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