s/o causes of autism: was your pregnancy with your autistic child closely spaced to your first?

[Anonymous]

I had twins. One was autistic, the other was gifted. They were one minute apart with the first-born being neurotypical. Although the majority of autistic children were boys, my girl was the one affected. I was told girls with autism are usually higher-functioning--mine was substantially-impaired. Lately, older dads have been linked to autism. My husband was 30. I followed all the doctor's orders, didn't drink or smoke or dye my hair. No one has figured out yet what causes autism. We were the first family to have an autistic child on both sides.

[Anonymous]

2 kids who are 2 1/2 years apart. Younger one is on the spectrum.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think I just read that autism is more common in first-borns actually. Or no? But I agree - "they" don't know. FWIW, my brother and are are 11 months apart and my kids are 15 months apart and none of us are autistic. I'm sure there will be many people who can post on here that they either do or do not fall into these categories, but it won't make you feel better, OP. They don't know what causes it. Best to do your best and take things as they come. Good luck to you.

Do you mean that the rate of autism is higher in first borns, or that the rate of being first born is higher in autistics? Because the latter would make sense since there are always more first borns in the world. But, yeah, the former would not jibe with the new study linking autism with close spaced children.

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure. All the studies before that had pointed to the rate being much higher in firstborn children and I don't believe the spacing study negates those. It's not clear if the risk is increased vis a vis firstborn kids or other second kids spaced further out but I believe it's the latter.