Brain Sense

How your brain makes sense of your senses.

by Faith Brynie

New Survey Examines Pregnancy Factors and Autism

Do complications during pregnancy increase the risk of autism?

Published on April 24, 2011 by Faith Brynie, Ph.D. in Brain Sense

The Interactive Autism Network (IAN) is conducting a survey to examine possible associations between potential pregnancy- and birth-related factors and ASD (autism spectrum disorders). The research is exploring

• use of fertility treatments
• pregnancy complications
• illness or infection during pregnancy
• medications taken during pregnancy
• number of ultrasounds
• induction of labor and birth complications

"It is very common for a woman whose child receives an autism diagnosis to agonize about possible causes, and to focus especially on her pregnancy or the child's birth," says Dr. Paul Law, Director of the IAN Project at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore Maryland. "To advance research on potential causes of ASD, it's important to learn not only if any of these factors are linked to ASD, but also which of them are not," he says.

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"This new survey will provide vital information to families, advocates, and policy makers alike," says Law. Comparisons between children with ASD and typical siblings are crucial to this research, so the IAN Project needs information on pregnancies and births of both children with ASD and their siblings.

Survey participants must be U.S. residents enrolled in the IAN project and the birth mother of a child with an ASD who is between the ages of 0-17. To register, visit www.ianresearch.org.

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Image courtesy of Kathy Gularte Photography