Researchers believe they may have found a link between autism and the age of the child’s father. After studying a large sample of 17-year-olds over a six year span, researchers at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York along with several other research institutions in the United States and Israel, found that the risk for autism increases with paternal age and in fact seems to accelerate.
Fathers in their thirties have children with a 1 ½ times the risk of developing autism in their teens and twenties. For children whose fathers are in their forties and fifties, the risk is five and nine times, respectively.
Historically, the focus has been on the mother’s age as a determinant in whether a child develops any type of developmental disability. Previous research also suggested that the age of both parents may play a role in whether a child is born with a developmental disability. But this new research suggests that a genetic link to the father’s age may be to blame without regards to maternal age.
In a paper published September 4, 2006 in the Archives of General Psychiatry researchers concluded that now the only question is whether the risk accelerates with the age of the father as the numbers from the study seem to suggest. The research also suggests the possibility that unknown factors may be causing men to delay parenthood while increasing autism rates.
It seems perhaps researchers should take an in-depth look at these older fathers to determine what, if any thing besides age, these fathers have in common that would explain the high numbers.
Autism is a developmental disability that is pretty much a mystery in terms of its origin. The disorder appears usually in early childhood and is characterized by a host of behaviors including social withdrawal, self-abuse and sometimes focusing on a single task for long periods of time.