Older Parents More at Risk to Have Children with Autism
Video Summary
Dr. Joseph Buxbaum discusses that studies focusing on parental age have found that older parents are at a slightly higher risk of having a child with autism than younger parents. Although the reason for this is not fully known, it is suspected that with age there is a greater risk for mutations to occur in the sperm or the egg that are then passed down to the child.
"I think there is good evidence now that the older the parents, the greater the risk for autism."
— Joseph Buxbaum, PhD