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Health

Autism risk higher among kids with parents in technical jobs

Darpan News Desk IANS, 16 May, 2014 11:19 AM
    Children of parents who are in technical occupations are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and a more serious form of autism, a study suggested.
     
    "Parent's occupation could be indicative of autistic-like behaviour and preferences and serve as another factor in a doctor's diagnosis of a child with suspected autism," said Aisha S. Dickerson, a researcher at the University of Texas Health Science Center in the US.
     
    For the study, parents were divided into those who had more non-people-oriented jobs (technical) or more people-oriented jobs (non-technical).
     
    Fathers who worked in engineering were two times as likely to have a child with ASD, the study said.
     
    Those who worked in finance were four times more likely and those who worked in health care occupations, six times, to have a child with the autism spectrum.
     
    There was no association to a mother’s occupation.
     
    However, children who had both parents in technical fields were at a higher risk of having a more serious form of autism, the researchers noted.