Autism and mental retardation?

I live near a special needs facility- and have kind of casually observed that most of the children there with autism or mental retardation have white, well-off middle aged parents- is this a coincidence or is there actually a cause for this?

Ranger_Alpha- I did not say Autism was a form of retardation- the facility treats both as well as other developmental situations- read the question.

It is possible that the first responder is correct. I work in an Agency in NY for people with Developmental Disabilities. In the group home where I work, all 12 individuals are Caucasian, & Middle Class. We do have 1 Jewish resident. In our Agency, there are some African American individuals, but very few. I'm not sure of the reason why, but I do think you may have a valid point.

Its probably because of the expense of enrolling their children into the program that probably contributes to there being mostly white children with mental handicaps. Otherwise it could just be a coincidence. Also another possibility is that many of the kids might have been adopted since sadly many middle class families wrongfully abandon their kids just for their handicaps out of prejudice.

Very curious.
My brother is autistic and epileptic, 17 years old. My parents are 50 and 47 and are well -off.
When he was born and even to this day, the doctors said it had nothing to do with genetics or age. My mother is very Conservative, she has never done drugs or drank, she didn't even have coffee, so it couldn't have been that. It was just a fluke.
I do know kids with downs syndrome are typically born to females over 40.

First of all Autism is not a form of "Retardation" the brain is not damaged in any way it just works in a slightly different way. There is evidence to suggest that whilst parents in the 40+ age bracket may have a slightly higher risk of producing an autistic child it is usually more down to family genetics and not environmental factors etc.

it does not choose any particular "Class" of people and can affect anyone from Rich to Poor, African American to Asian to White.

I'd say it's just coincidence.

Autism Consultant