c I n this issue of the Journal, two articles focus on nonspecific risk factors for autism and autism spectrum disorder (ASD)—socioeconomic status (SES) and maternal age. The relation of parental characteristics, including high intelligence, to autism was raised in Leo Kanner’s classic study, “Autistic Disturbances of Affective Contact.” Subsequently, it was proposed that children diagnosed with ASDs are overrepresented in families with a higher SES. The findings have been mixed; similar numbers of studies have reported a positive correlation with a higher SES and equivalent numbers have found none. Thus, the issue is not resolved. A 2010 cross-sectional study used data from the Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring Network to identify 8-year-old children with ASD among defined populations. The investigators found a positive correlation with a higher SES, more so in previously ascertained cases, and no SES difference in those with diagnoses of ASD and intellectual disability. Questions persist about whether the association is genuine or, potentially, a consequence of ascertainment bias. If the difference is due is to ascertainment bias, children from lower SES families may not be receiving needed services. If not due to ascertainment bias alone as proposed in this study, further investigation is needed. To address the SES question, Rai et al. carried out a study in Scandinavia where health care is free and assessment services for children with developmental problems are readily available. Their study was a gender-matched, case-control study of children up to age 17 years. The investigators hypothesized that prenatal measurements of a low SES (education, income, occupational status) rather than a high SES would be associated with an increased risk of offspring with an ASD. Indeed, the investigators found that children of parents who were employed in manual occupations and had lower incomes were at higher risk. Parental education, parental ages, comorbid intellectual dis-