SALT LAKE CITY — A new study of child autism at the University of Utah has found that while income does not seem to be a factor in having an autistic or intellectually-disabled child, parental age, education level and ethnicity might.

The study, published this week in the journal Autism Research, looked at children with autism or who are intellectually disabled, in a three-county area surrounding Salt Lake City through the Utah Registry of Autism and Developmental Disabilities. After evaluating a variety of demographic factors, they found that autistic children were more likely to be male, something supported by earlier studies, and to have mothers of white, non-Hispanic, ethnicity. Autistic children were also more likely to have mothers 34 years of age or older.

While autism is a neuro-developmental disorder, children with intellectual disability do not share they symptoms of autism, but usually score 70 or below on a standard IQ test.

The study differed from other studies that claimed income level plays a factor in children with autism. The new study found that it did not play a factor.

“in the past, there’s been a body of literature that has said that children with autism come from parents of high income families, and children with intellectual disability come from families with low income. so I think this study is important because it shows that regardless of what your income is, it places you at risk for having either autism and/or intellectual disabilities,” said study author Judith Pinborough-Zimmerman, a research assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Utah.

Zimmerman and her colleagues examined income changes over an eight-year period in families with a child either with autism, intellectual disability, or both, and then compared the data to the general population. they researchers found no clear association between income level and risk of the conditions in children.

“This study, despite the small sample size, is an example of the importance of exploring the many variables, that in combination, may result in an increase risk,” said Dr. Harper Randall, medical director for the Division of Family Health and Preparedness.

Zimmerman said one other surprising finding showed that mothers who had more than 13 years of education were less likely to have children who were intellectually disabled.

Dyslexia is one of the most common learning disabilities in children and in many adults, which hinders a person’s reading, writing, spelling and speaking ability. Many people with dyslexia often suffered from difficulties with reading and spelling properly. in recent research shows that dyslexia is not an intellectual disability, it is considered both a learning disability and a reading disability. Dyslexia and IQ are not interrelated too, for reading and cognition develop independently in individuals who have dyslexia.  although there is a learning problem, many sufferers can still become successful in life.

Because everyone is born differently, not all dyslexics displays the same symptoms, the severity of dyslexia can vary from mild to severe. some may be mildly dyslexic and may only have a few or even none of the symptoms, some have severe symptoms which affect a person’s life. as far as treatment concerned, the sooner dyslexia is treated, the more favorable the outcome, it is never too late for people with dyslexia to learn to improve their language skills.

Nowadays dyslexia can be considerably tackled with proper therapy, training and equipment, dyslexic people will benefit from modern technology products. there are many tools and resources to combat dyslexia or learning disabilities, help people cope with their disabilities and difficulties.

Audio devices such as tape recorders are helpful, users can listen to what they have recorded repeatedly. Similarly, users can take advantage of text to speech programs, besides reading out text, some of these kind software programs such as Panopreter Plus have additional advanced features. Panopreter Plus reads characters, words, phrases or files in file format of txt, rtf, doc, pdf and web pages with natural voices, and converts them to wave and mp3 audio files, the volume and rate are also adjustable. By using the text to speech software, user can hear a natural voice speech on the computer, or export audio files to an iPod, smart phone or portable mp3 player, and listen to them whenever they like to do so.

Voice-enabled electronic dictionaries which give word definitions, synonyms, antonyms, and pronunciation are also helpful. If spelling and grammar are the major problems, there are spelling and grammar devices that have spell-checkers to correct your spelling, and grammar checkers for your grammar correction.

Besides utilizing above technology resources to get help with dyslexia, many other treatments and exercises that can be done to speed up the treatment and help process. With the proper training and treatment, dyslexics can overcome their dyslexia symptoms and lead normal and productive lives.

Claud Matllon – About the Author: