Social class distribution of fathers of children enrolled in the Iowa Autism Program.

The social class distribution of fathers with autistic children attending a locally well-known and state-supported modern autism program was examined and was compared to the social class distributions observed in a nonautistic, mentally retarded population, in children with other psychiatric disorders, and in the general population from which the present autistic sample was drawn. No significant differences were found among the groups. The findings supported the view that if studies are not biased by certain selection factors outside the autistic child's clinical picture and diagnosis, and if services become better known and readily available, then no differences in social class distribution between autistic and nonautistic groups occur. The results suggest that social class is not an important factor in the origin of autistic syndrome.