How old are moms on latest autism court cases?

As the first post-Polings autism case makes its way to federal court, that’s one simple question of mine — how old are the mothers of the autistic children?

I’ve already blogged that I believe a change in the DSM, the bible of psychiatry, is responsible for a lot of the autism “surge.” A former diagnosis of child-onset schizoid disorder in DSM-III became Asperger’s in DSM-IV. If, then, some of the “new” Asperger’s cases were overdiagnosed with full-spectrum autism, that accounts for the increase right there.

Misuse of the word “autism” is another factor. (Parents talking about their children being “cured” show they are either self-delusional, or else their children weren’t autistic in the first place.)

But, maternal age?

Yes.

As with Down’s syndrome, trisomy 21 and other issues, the likelihood of an autistic child increases with maternal age.

This is not to “blame” older women for having children. However, it is to try to get them to stop blaming other factors that are not contributory.

Meanwhile, here’s the details of the nonscientific claim the parents’ lawyers will produce:

Lawyers for the petitioning families in the cases being heard this month say they will present evidence that injections with thimerosal deposit a form of mercury in the brain. That mercury excites certain brain cells that stay chronically activated trying to get rid of the intrusion.

Lets look at actual scientific causes, not this mumbo-jumbo.