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Children of Engineer Fathers Have Higher Risk of Autism: Study

Children of Engineer Fathers Have Higher Risk of Autism
(Photo : Flickr)

Men who are employed in technical occupations are more likely to have children with autism, according to a study.

Children with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD) suffer from social, behavior and communicational difficulties and require lot of care and attention in daily lives. Recently, researchers from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT Health) found that fathers' employment in jobs that require them engage and interact with other people influences behavior and social skills of their children.

 They examined data from the U.S. government's Standard Occupational Classification system and divided parents in two groups- people-oriented or non-technical jobs and non-people oriented or technical jobs.

Their analysis revealed men with engineering and technical jobs have two times increased possibility of having a child with ASD. The risk rates for fathers in finance related jobs and health care occupations were four and six times higher, respectively. The study noted children with both parents working technical fields had the greatest risk of suffering severe form of autism.

 But, the study found no link between mothers' occupation and autism in children.

"Parental occupation could be indicative of autistic-like behaviors and preferences and serve as another factor in a clinician's diagnosis of a child with suspected autism. Medical students can be taught that this is one of the things to consider," said Aisha S. Dickerson, study author and researcher at Center for Clinical and Translation Sciences in UT Health in the news release.

According to the data by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in 68 children is identified with the autistic spectrum disorder. But, the condition is five times more common in boys than in girls.

The research will be presented at the International Meeting for Autism Research in Atlanta.

May 18, 2014 12:31 PM EDT

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