# 1 in 46 newborn males develop autism spectrum in NJ

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-46-newborn-males-develop-autism-spectrum-in-nj/617223>\
**Category:** Great Debates\
**Created:** [March 30, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-46-newborn-males-develop-autism-spectrum-in-nj/617223 "2012-03-30T00:55:51Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![Randvek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a6a055/32.png) [@Randvek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randvek)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-46-newborn-males-develop-autism-spectrum-in-nj/617223/41 "2012-04-10T00:26:31Z")

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> [@Aurelia](#):
>
> San Francisco is a city full of educated, well-off people, and right next to Silicon Valley, yet the rate of autism diagnosis is significantly higher in Silicon Valley.

I don’t have a cite for this for the moment, but I have seen a few studies suggesting that it isn’t “educated” people in general that have more autistics. The one profession that passes along autistic genes more than any other is engineering. One working theory that autism and left-brain dominance may be related.

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**Author:** ![Aurelia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@Aurelia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aurelia)\
**Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1-in-46-newborn-males-develop-autism-spectrum-in-nj/617223/42 "2012-04-10T02:12:03Z")

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Yes, that’s the [theory](http://www.nature.com/news/2011/111102/full/479025a.html) put forth by Simon Baron-Cohen, though he notes that more research needs to be done to confirm his findings. He also wrote about the [“extreme male brain”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empathizing%E2%80%93systemizing_theory) theory.

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