to think rising levels of neuro diverse children in society is partly due to rising ages of pregnant mothers?

[staydazzling]

im not condeming anything here btw, i would like to make that clear. and i know this may not go down well on here, donning hard hat but whenever theres discussions about how neurological diversity in children has risen ASD, ADHD etc in society, the conversion is often about MMR Ipads or diet, discipline etc which of course all important variables but i feel its unhelpful that a lot of would be mothers are not informed of the risk past 35, of downs syndrome, autism etc, its obviously much better financially to be older and have a family. aibu to feel its the elephant inthe room regarding rising levels of children with ASD, ADHD, Etc??

I thought it was more to do with more understanding of ASD etc therefore it becoming easier to diagnose. Whereas in years gone by kids would have been dismissed as unruly, thick etc.

It's not U to have a hypothesis but you will need to provide some evidence to make it a scientific theory.

I thought paternal age was a factor, too?

im not condeming anything here btw

Yeah, sure you’re not

It's more to do with the increase in Ultrasounds, boutique scans (there is ongoing research in to the impact of repeated early ultrasounds and the impact of the soundwaves on early brain development) and genetic problems with embryos caused by increases in harmful plastics we come in to contact with constantly. Also a total lack of sufficient iodine in many children's diets.

Most neuro diverse kids I know belong to younger mothers 🤷‍♀️

Is there a proven link between maternal age and risk of autism in children?

none of the things you have mentioned are variables at all when discussing neurological conditions

You think that having children past 35 is a new invention?

I said it so many times but we so need to teach history properly in schools.

Or do you have a paper to link to?

im not condeming anything here btw, i would like to make that clear.

I should bloody hope not.

We know the rising average age of maternity affects rates of Downs’ Syndrome. What evidence do you have of the links between that statistic and other conditions?

I had my eldest at 21 and she has ADHD and ASD.
My other two are neurotypical.
I am a speech pathologist and see children regularly with ASD. There is a big mix in the age of parents of the children I see with ASD

YABU. Rising levels is more likely due to better understanding and better diagnosis. Children with ASD etc have always existed. Just in the past they were labelled naughty, or thick, and so on. A lot of them will have fumbled along unnoticed because the understanding was just not there.

How do explain the rising number of adults with late diagnosis of such conditions? Seems to me it is more to do with improved acknowledgement of neuro-diversity and acceptance of diagnosis.

Paternal age is link to increased schizophrenia risk, but as others have said there's better recognition of these than there used to be.

Link found with father's age.

Presumably, older women are with even older men, so that will have been where the initial assumption came from, that it was maternal age. It's the father.

Procreate with younger men, ladies. 😉

I agree this could be a factor. I'd be interested in a link if you have one?

Nope. I had my asd child at 24. There’s a definate genetic link imo, I can see autism so clearly in his dads family now I know what I know.

www.newscientist.com/article/mg21528795-100-older-fathers-pass-on-more-mutations/

sequenced the genomes of people with schizophrenia and autism, and compared them to the genomes of their parents, who did not have the conditions. Both conditions are thought to be linked to new mutations, says Goriely.

The approach allowed Stefánsson’s team to tell in which parent the mutations that contribute to the conditions had originated. They found that most new mutations were inherited from the father, and the number of them appeared to correlate with his age: about two new mutations occurred for every year older the father was when their child was conceived

Older fathers might be a contributing factor.

DS is autistic. I had him when I was 23. He showed signs of ASD before his MMR jab, which has been disproved re: causing autism so it's not an important variable at all is it?

I was 21.

Have you got any stats or research on the risks of lots of ultrasound scans @Cryingoverspilttea ?

Not a scientist are you op?

Who knows? Are there any studies anyone can link to analysing all sorts of criteria that may be responsible for the increase in autism? It could be the result of multiple factors including those previously discounted.

Always a mum’s fault somewhere along the line, isn’t it? From ‘refrigerator mothers’ to this

I was 19 when I had my eldest - he has ASD.

I work in a service which works with families affected by childhood disability - the vast majority of parents are/were under 30-35 when the children were born.

AFAIK Downs Syndrome is the only one which is officially higher risk based on age.

I had my children (both with asd and adhd) at 27 and 30. I ate healthily. Stopped drinking, never smoked, never took any drugs ever. I took all the vitamins I was meant to and exercised. I don’t know why my children have autism.