AbstractResearch suggests that two prenatal factors, ad-vanced parental age and use of assisted reproductive technol-ogy (ART), may independently increase the likelihood for the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Our study evaluated the effect of advancedmaternal and paternal ages (i.e., ages 35 and over) at the time of conception with and without the use of ARTon the incidence of ASD and communication disorders (CD). We hypothesized that advanced parental age would be the stron gest independent risk factor for the incidence of ASD and/or CD in offspring compared to younger parental age and use of ART. Information on 122 children was obtained through con-fidential survey. Parental ages at time of conception, diagno-ses, use of ART, and infertility were considered. Results indi-cated that the risk of having a child with a CD increased significantly with either advanced maternal or paternal age. The risk of having a child diagnosed with ASD and/or CD was significantly higher for couples of advanced age, and the riskwas significantly decreased for younger couples. Mothers of advanced age used ARTat a significantly higher rate; how-ever, this risk of having a child diagnosed with ASD and/or CD was not increased. Identification of risk factors (particu-larly combinations of risk factors) is essential for early detec-tion of ASD and CD. The findings of our study, combined with other epidemiological data, may help to guide the devel-opment of prenatal screening tools and procedures. Implications are discussed.
KeywordsAutismspectrumdisorders.Communication disorders. Assisted reproductive technologies.Advanced
paternal age.Advancedmaternal age