Current data suggest that the likelihood of having a child with autism if the biological parents already have one child with autism is at least 1/20. This rate may be an underestimate, given that many families with one autistic child will stop having children due to stress or the fear of having another child with the disorder.

Some studies have suggested there may be an increased risk of preterm delivery, low birth weight and an increased risk of birth defects with ART procedures, but these findings are controversial. Please speak with your physician if you have concerns about this issue.

No one knows for sure. Though it's understandable to expect that a disorder as common as autism would have a known cause, in many ways it's still quite mysterious. Recent studies suggest a strong genetic basis for autism -- up to 20 sets of genes may play a part in its development. Genetics alone, however, can't account for all the cases, and so scientists are also looking into possible environmental origins, as well as other triggers.

If you are observing impairment in eye contact, social skills and communication, and increased participation in restricted or repetitive behaviors, you should have your child evaluated. This evaluation will determine if your child meets the diagnostic criteria for an Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Yes. To increase your chances of conceiving a girl, you should have intercourse 2-4 days before ovulation. For more information, see Ovulation and Pregnancy.

Yes. To improve your chances of conceiving a baby boy, you should have intercourse a day before ovulation, on the day of ovulation, and a day after it. For more information, see Ovulation and Pregnancy.

In the usual circumstance, the chances depend upon the age of the mother. Many studies were conducted on this and the odds of having a child with Down's Syndrome at age 35 are approximately 1 in 350. Under age 25, the odds are about 1 in 1400 and at age 40 the odds are about 1 in 100. The chances of a parent of a child with Trisomy 21 having another child with Down's Syndrome is approximately 1 in 100. If the child has a translocation, the recurrence risk can be as high as 100% or as low as 2%.

It depends. Asthma usually gets much better in adolescence, so a child with mild asthma might have no symptoms as a teenager, and a child with serious asthma symptoms will have fewer problems as a teenager. However, in many cases the child's lungs may still be inflamed, as shown on lung function tests. In these cases, asthma may return in later life, usually in the 30's or 40's. Experts don't know why that is.

The survival rates depend on several factors: the type of cancer your child has, the stage of the cancer when your child was diagnosed, and your child's response to treatment. Overall, survival statistics are currently well over 77%, and over 85% for children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. And those number keep rising every year. The goal of the Children's Oncology Group is to reach an 85% overall survival rate by the year 2009.

There is no medication that can cure autism, and no one medication that is recommended for individuals with autism. Medications can be recommended to help with very specific target symptoms that are associated with autism. Some of these symptoms might include extreme difficulty attending to the pertinent aspects of the environment or aggression towards self or others.

No. There are a variety of disorders that are related to limited speech development but any child that is not talking by the age of 3 should have a developmental assessment immediately. Most children are babbling before they reach their first birthday and use single words to communicate by 18 months. Any child that does not display these behaviors or who has and subsequently loses a communicative or social skill should be screened for an Autism Spectrum Disorder as soon as possible.

There is a higher rate of multiple births for women treated with fertility drugs than in the general population. The actual rate depends on the type of drugs used and the chosen procedure. There are many strategies to minimize the risk of multiple births, but it is always a risk to some degree.

Yes. Chiropractic care will enable your son's body to function at its optimum level. Due to the extreme toxicity that the vaccine has had on his body, chiropractic care is essential for his body to heal as much as possible.

Autism, part of a group of disorders known as Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD), is a complex neurobiological disorder that typically lasts throughout a person's lifetime. The disorder is characterized by varying degrees of impairment in communication skills and social abilities, and also by repetitive behaviors. Symptoms range from mild to severe. One milder form of the disorder is known as Asperger Syndrome.

Clearly it is impossible to make a generalization about how any individual child will grow and progress. All children continue to develop, despite delays or the presence of deviant behaviors. Information that we have currently about the progress of adults with autism is based on the treatments these individuals received twenty or thirty years ago.