Published on 12, July, 2020
The article linked below suggests that the children of older parents may be more likely to be autistic. It caught my eye because my dad was almost 50 when I was born and his own father was a similar age when my dad was born.
I’ve always assumed that it just took them longer to have families because they too were autistic (my dad certainly was) but the article suggests that older parents accumulate more mutations which they pass to their children.
Were your parents older when they had you?
https://www.spectrumnews.org/news/link-parental-age-autism-explained/
My parents were 29 and 33, having married in 1949. I have always suspected that my mother was autistic, but she would not have been diagnosed as a child as there was no NHS and many people just couldn't afford to see a doctor. In mid-to-late life she showed a lot of ASC symptoms and received repeated treatment for anxiety, burnout and shutdown; all, of course, behind closed doors lest the neighbours should find out.
Ben
I should add that I wasn't diagnosed until age 67.