Autism and parents' education. New data from the developing world

ABSTRACT

To investigate the link between autism disorders and engineering training of parents. All Autistic-Pervasive Developmental Disorders [PDD] children that were diagnosed on the bases of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders [DSM-IV], and met the required criteria for autism, over a defined period [March 2006 to June 2007] were included. We then took all non-PDD developmental disorders cases seen during the same time frame as the autistic children as a control; these included speech delay, mental retardation, and down's syndrome. Out data covered demographic data, parents and grandparents' education, and profession. Parents' education/professions were classified into 2 groups only, 1- engineering or mathematician; and 2-humanities, neither engineering nor math. The children were divided into 2 groups, autism [57 cases], and developmental disorders [40 cases]. Regarding the main question of this study [hypothesized engineering link], the data showed some differences between the 2 groups [x[2]=2.503, degrees of freedom[df]=1; p=0.093], but not of major significance. There was no significant difference [x[2]0.370; df=2; p=0.831] between the 2 groups on the variable of consanguinity. We have found that the Saudi Arabian sample, though relatively small, has considerable similarities with both the UK and USA data. There is a possibility of an association between autism and the engineering/math training of fathers. The implication is briefly discussed