I found this on NBC NEWS

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14672767/

Study: Autism more likely when dad is older
Over-40 father 6 times more likely to have autistic kids than under-30 dad

Associated Press


CHICAGO - Men who become fathers in their 40s or older are much more likely to have autistic children than younger dads, a new study released Monday shows, bolstering evidence that genetics contributes to the mental disorder.
The research involved about 130,000 Israeli Jews born in the 1980s. Those fathered by older men were almost six times more likely to have autism or related disorders than those fathered by men younger than 30, and more than one and a half times more likely than children fathered by men ages 30-39.
The mothers' age at childbirth appeared to have little impact on autism, although the researchers said they couldn't rule out "a possible small effect" from the oldest mothers.

Autism experts called the study intriguing but not definitive, and the authors said the results need to be tested in a broader population to see if similar findings would occur in other ethnic groups.
‘Strong effect in a carefully designed study’
It's not the first time fathers' age has been implicated in autism, but the new research stands out because "it's a strong effect in a carefully designed study," said Dr. Edwin Cook, an autism researcher at University of Illinois-Chicago who was not involved in the study.

The study was released Monday in September's Archives of General Psychiatry.
It is based on biographical information on Israeli boys and girls who at age 17 were being assessed for eligibility to serve in the Israeli military. Among them, 110 had been diagnosed earlier with autism or related disorders which include a less severe condition called Asperger's syndrome. However, most of the affected children in the study had autism and the researchers said their results may not apply to Asperger's or other autism-like disorders.

Lead author Abraham Reichenberg, a researcher at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, called it the first rigorous population-based study to investigate whether a father's age affects the risk of a child developing autism. Researchers from Columbia University and Israeli institutions including Chaim Sheba Medical Center and Hebrew University participated in the research

Previous research by some of the same authors linked advanced paternal age with lower intelligence scores and with schizophrenia.
Other studies have shown that sperm mutate more often in older men, potentially leading to increased risk for brain abnormalities in their children.
"It's a very interesting, strong study," said Dr. Fred Volkmar, an autism researcher at Yale University who was not involved in the research.
Further questions

Volkmar said the study is consistent with a prevailing theory that genes are a cause of autism, but he said the results need to be tested to prove the fathers' age was a culprit. For example, the study lacked information on whether the fathers themselves had autism.

Autism is a developmental disorder that involves an impaired ability to socialize and communicate. Symptoms can include repetitive behaviors such as head-banging; avoidance of physical or eye contact with others, and communicating with gestures rather than words. It is more common in boys than in girls and typically is diagnosed in the first few years of life.
Many researchers believe impaired genes are a cause or trigger of autism. Most studies have failed to find evidence to support a persistent belief among some parents that mercury-containing childhood vaccines are to blame.

very true spoode that older the dad more likey the porblems to the child dorm

127,865 kids born to fathers under 40 , 96 autisic kids
4296 kids born to fathers 40 and over 14 autisic kids

The studied says kids born of fathers 40 and over are 5.75 more likely to have autism.

I guess you notice what a small number of total kids born to father 40
and over compared to those under 40.

So why do men have fewwer kids when over 40? What kind of men will have kids over 40? Have you rented the "40 year old virgin" :)

A man like myself aged 36 with Aspergers has social skills impairment that
will lead to forming relationships that will lead to kids at a much later age
(or never). Thats where the "increased" rate is comming from. The fathers
having kids at 40 are infact likely 5.75 more likely to have autism!

In other words if I had paper copy of this study it would be usefull to start
a campfire or a low grade TP.

My god look at the small number of autisic kids(14) in the 40 and over group.
That means if I moved to Israel and had kids (when I hit 40) I bet I would
have a 50% chance of an autisic spectrum kid. That means I could have
0.5 autisic kids a year with one women. So if I get 28 Aspie brothers over
40 hell bent on having kids we can make the next study show 11.75 times more likely.

Well, I think that with society today, it's more likely for even men without Autism, or a different disorder themselves, to have children after 40. I know plenty of men who had children later in live because of second marraiges.

I hadn't heard of this before, I'm not surprised to learn that some disorders, in this case, Autism, may be linked to older fathers. Down's Syndrome is more common in older women.

I wonder how many other disorders can be linked to older parents? With people having children later in life than previous generations I wonder how likely we are to see increases in these disorders?

Thge increase in the silicon valley area remains as true. I'm wondering if there is a corresponding increase in autism in the golden triangle on the east coast ?

I think theta has a point (albeit humorous). If an autistic father has a 50% chance of producing autistic offspring, it would not take very many autistics having children late in life to cause the statistics to favor men over 40 fathering autistic children more than younger men. However, It is a perillous oversimplification to think that the high numbers are entirely due to autistic fathers marrying late.. While the number of autistic fathers would probably be larger than usual in a group of men over 40 having children, I doubit them to be numerous enough to account for all of the difference.

Does anyone know what percentage of autistic men actually have children ?
I suspect the number is fairly high for aspsies, but low for autistics, How does this stack up as a group? I thik one would need to know this in order to address the question.


ME :D

Yeah I do not know if the 50% autisic offspring rate is true. i do know that
men with kids on an asperger forum site I have seen only two men who say they have kids. Meaning aspie's infact do not have kids that often. The 50
year old man that has two kids says both have PDD (an autisic spectrum
condition). I think my theory is correct :)

My husband was 19 but we have an autistic son. God knows what we would have got if he'd been any older!

that sounds like a load of rubbish to me as my dad was in his fiftys when he had me and his other children and we are all fine . but my husband was in his twenty when we had ashley and he is autistic