Florida Mothers -- Study of Prenatal Medication Exposures and Autism

[Guest guest]

I received a letter from our local Center for Autism and Related

Disabilities informing me of a study being done at the University of

Florida, College of Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Division of

Genetics. They are evaluating prenatal medication exposure in

children with autism. Their enclosed letter was on official UF

letterhead from their department at the College of Medicine. I am

going to type the contents of the letter (to the best of my

abilities) below beginning with the greeting. Any mistakes are my

own.

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

The purpose of this communication is to explain a study being

undertaken in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Genetics, at

the University of Florida and to determine if you might be interested

in participating. The title of the studey is Prenatal Medication

Exposures and Childhood Autism. Dr. , medical

geneticist and director of the Teratogen Information Service, is the

principle investigator.

As you know, the causes of autism remain largely a mystery, although

genetic and early prenatal exposures have been suggested. Through a

survey of mothers of children with autism, we hope to shed some light

on any possible relationship between prenatal medication exposure and

autism.

We need 100 mothers of children with autism to participate in this

study. They will be chosen based on the following criteria:

1. having a child with autism;

2. child under the age of five years;

3. birth mother available for inquiry and living in the State

of Florida;

4. mother received prenatal care during pregnancy with autistic

child;

5. mother between the ages of 22 and 32 years at time of

delivery; and

6. prenatal care and hospital birth records available.

Women who meet these criteria will be asked to complete a

questionaire about medication use during pregnancy. They will also

be asked to sign a release of records form so that prenatal and birth

records can be obtained for review. Data gathered from the

questionaires and records review will be analyzed to determine if any

medication could be linked to autism in exposed children.

Participants will not be paid for the study, but will receive a copy

of the results.

If you would agree to participate in the study, or if you need more

information, please contact: Donna Poynor at 1- or

poynodh@....

Sincerely,

It was signed:

Donna Poynor, Coordinator A. , M.D.

Teratogen Information Service Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics

Division of Genetics Division of Genetics

Department of Pediatrics Department of Pediatrics

University of Florida University of Florida