Fever = Autism?

Article:
http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/04/fever-in-pregnancy-tied-to-autism-risk/?ref=health


Summary:
According to a recent study published by The Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, running a fever during pregnancy is associated with a risk of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and developmental delays in babies.

Analysis:

As a future special education teacher, and current preschool teacher's assistant, I am very interested in child development and causes of disorders in early development.  It seems that a fever is a minor issue in comparison to other causes of autism during pregnancy, such as measles, mumps, and influenza.  According to the study, pregnant women who had a fever during pregnancy were twice as likely to have a child with a developmental disorder compared to women that did not have a fever during pregnancy.  These results are shocking, especially considering the increasing numbers of children identified as having special needs.  The fact that an untreated fever can cause autism in children makes me worry about having my own children someday.  As a future special education teacher and as someone that has worked with ASD students, it is important to educate and prepare these students for the future.  It is even more important to educate future mothers about the causes of developmental disorders, and to help increase awareness of how to have a healthy pregnancy and a healthy child.  The more knowledge there is about autism and its causes, the easier it will be to help mother's make the right medical choices during pregnancy so that there are less children born with developmental disorders.