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Published 21:43, January the 12th, 2009
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Prenatal autism test spurs ethics debate

1944

The year Asperger syndrome was first described. Owing to the condition’s late discovery, some experts think such geniuses as Albert Einstein and Sir Isaac Newton might have suffered from it. 

 

Calls have been made for an urgent debate on the ethics of a new test that doctors say will soon detect autism in unborn children.

Researchers at the U.K.’s Cambridge University autism research center followed 235 children from birth to the age of eight and found that high levels of testosterone in amniotic fluid surrounding a fetus in the womb suggested a strong link to autism in the unborn child.

The test would be similar to those undertaken by women who think they may be carrying a child with Down syndrome, which has led to an increase in the number of babies with the syndrome being aborted.

Doctors worldwide have reported a dramatic increase in the last two decades in the number of children, especially boys, being diagnosed with various forms of autism, which is a spectrum disorder.

Autism can manifest itself in a range of ways, from children with no speech or social interaction, to those which high-functioning forms of the condition, such as Asperger syndrome, where the only symptoms are slight difficulties in social interaction, which can often be overcome by learned behavior.

People with autism have been among the world’s greatest mathematical and musical minds.   

METRO