any of you give merit to this study?

Not at all!

Milo weighed in at a VERY healthy 9 pounds 9 ounces at 38 weeks. LOL!!

I personally think they will discover the cause to be much like an autoimmune disease. It is in your genes to have the "autism" gene but something in utero or something environmentally after birth triggers it to activate. Studies have linked inflammation (just like in so many other diseases) as elevated in kids on the spectrum.

Some docs find that kids with ASD have improved symptoms while on prednisone (anti-inflammatory).

The increase in all autoimmune and chronic disease processes is something I think we as a human race need to be very concerned with. I truly feel we are creating a bad environment for good health. Our foods are overprocessed our lives are rushed and crazy, the pollution and chemicals, etc...It all just seems to be too much for long term health in my opinion.

Just like immunizations. I am certain that it was a trigger for some kids autism, but in our case Milo was born with it and it wasn't caused by any immunization.

I'm sure the stats are there to show a correlation but there are a TON of correlation studies out there that don't mean a thing. Low birth weight babies are at risk for all sorts of developmental delays, not just autism.

My other problem (and I was NEVER good at Stats) but if autism rates are as high as 1 in 90 for boys and 1 in 110 for all kids....them finding 14 of 119 meeting the criteria doesn't seem staggering to me. Also when there is likely overlap among some developmental delays and impairments.

I agree. All of my babies have been on the smaller side with Gavin being the biggest at 7.3lbs and Tristan is the only one with possible ASD. And I myself was very small..less than 6lbs at birth and I didn't have any delays at all.
Since Tori has SID I Agree that it is probably something relating to a gene. Tristan hasn't gotten any official diagnosis so it's hard for me to use him as an example, but I just had a long talk with his teacher today and we were talking about Tori's SID and she said it definitely fit with Tristan. Most kids with Autism have some SID, but not all kids with SID are Autistic. Tori has mild MR, and we don't know if Tristan will be the same.

I think Nicole hit it right on the head. I think we'll find down the road that there's a biological tendency toward ASD, but that other factors activate that tendency. Low birth rate is a MAJOR stressor on a child's body, so I don't find this surprising. However, you'll find many kids with ASDs with very healthy birth weights.

My Lukas was my heavier child at 7 lb. 13 oz. I think he was born with an autism spectrum disorder, as he never could organize his mouth muscles to nurse, and had problems learning to eat solid foods and drooled until he had extensive speech therapy at age 2. Feeding issues are quite common in kids with ASDs.

I was interested in opinions. My nephew was diagnosised with it and pretty severe case for a 3 year old (they normally won't even give a diagnosis at this age I think) recently. My niece (kids mom) is doing a wonderful job being an advocate, going to all sorts of meetings, joining groups and starting things on her own. I know he will be fine but now I'm even more interested in the whole spectrum. At one time I was very worried that Brent was on the spectrum so I know the anxiety of waiting for someone to tell you yes or no.
 
to all of you doing a wonderful job dealing with everything you do on a daily basis from the child him/herself to the Dr's and therapist!