Children and adults with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to experience additional medical, neurological, or mental health disorders than those without ASD. When individuals have additional diagnoses that are commonly associated with one another, we call them co-occurring conditions.
The more parents and caregivers are frontloaded with information about common co-occurring disorders with autism, the sooner they can support their child’s overall well-being. Early autism intervention and behavioral therapy, especially with co-occurring disorders, make a dramatic difference in the long-term physical, mental, and emotional health of children with ASD.
Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are more likely to experience additional medical, neurological, or mental health conditions. Early identification and intervention give families the tools to address challenges sooner—often improving long-term physical, emotional, and behavioral outcomes.
Your pediatrician and any specialists involved (neurologists, ABA therapists, occupational therapists, etc.) should be on the lookout for any of these nine conditions more likely to occur in children with ASD.
There is a higher co-occurrence of autism in children who were born with other chromosomal or genetic disorders, like Down syndrome, fragile X syndrome or Trisomy 13. However, these disorders are typically diagnosed soon after a child is born, and are less likely to be diagnosed later on in their toddlerhood or childhood.
There are several reasons children with ASD may have problems getting to sleep - and staying asleep. Some of them are related to neurological and biochemical functions. However, there can be additional factors that cause sleep disruptions for your child, such as:
Healthy sleep habits are essential to everyone in the household, and a well-rested child will function better the next day.
Anxiety is prevalent in children with ASD, with as many as 40% of those with autism having diagnosable anxiety. Social anxiety is a large part of that equation since those with ASD may struggle to understand non-literal language, facial expressions, or others’ emotions (or they may not be able to demonstrate their understanding of those things outside of their interior world).
Working on emotional regulation and self-soothing strategies, along with continuous practice and role-play lessons, can make a significant difference in helping your child make friends. Along those same lines, working to educate their parents and peers is also helpful. Remember, there are plenty of children and adults without ASD who also have significant social anxiety, so building an understanding and supportive community eases the way for the whole.
The rates of co-occurrence between ASD and ADHD are so significant that we recently wrote a post about the ASD and ADHD overlap.
In it, we stated statistics, including:
Currently, meta-analyses of the most recent studies show that the percentage of children diagnosed with ADHD who meet criteria for ASD ranges from 13% to 22%. However, further research is needed on this topic, and many researchers and behavioral therapists believe the percentage of children with overlapping ASD and ADHD is higher than that.
The frequency of this overlap is substantial enough that physicians nd behavioral therapists use the term AuDHD to represent when these are co-occurring disorders.
Many of the symptoms of ADHD read like a playbook of autism red flags, like:
The good news is that implementing ABA therapy tools at home and school should support any of the signs of ADHD that overlap with autism.
We discussed this in the section on sleep disorders. Children with ASD can have a heightened need for structure and routine. When the routine gets disrupted, they become very agitated, and this can even result in disruptive or even harmful behaviors like stimming, self-harm, aggression towards others, or uncontrollable meltdowns.
OCD is a more extreme manifestation of the need for predictable structure and routine, often resulting in a requirement for very specific numbers, patterns, or organization before a child can proceed to the next task. It may also show up as hyper-vigilant attention to cleanliness and hygiene (or the opposite!) and other aversions. As with ADHD, we like to hold OCD’s manifestations in a way that honors the ability to transform and work through them using positive reinforcement, exposure/desensitization therapies, and other modalities to minimize any debilitating behaviors.
According to studies cited by Autism Speaks, as many as 21% of children with ASD have some form of gastrointestinal disorder. There is substantial research on this topic, and many researchers believe that issues with the gut microbiome may be a significant contributing factor, which is why many parents advocate healthy, anti-inflammatory, and probiotic-friendly diets.
The most common symptoms of g.i. disorders linked to autism include:
Most nutritionists who’ve worked with individuals with ASD and g.i. Participants have reported significant improvements in their physical well-being and reduced behavioral issues by adhering to more restrictive diets, including gluten- and dairy-free regimens and avoidance of processed foods and food dyes. But these findings vary from person to person.
We recommend reading this Autism Parenting Magazine post about Autism & Diet… to learn more about the connection and to begin exploring whether dietary changes may help your child.
Children with ASD can have food aversions that become eating disorders. In some cases, this could be self-image-based or due to other psychological issues. However, most of the time it has to do with some of the other co-occurring conditions we’ve mentioned, like OCD, strong food preferences/aversions, heightened anxieties, or the reality that foods are linked to painful, uncomfortable, or even embarrassing G.I. disorders.
If your child is having eating disorders that interfere with physical well-being, nutrition, or their overall health/behaviors, speak to your pediatrician about a referral to a nutritionist who specializes in ASD clients to create a healthy and nourishing food plan.
When you read through the first five common co-occurring disorders with autism, it’s easy to understand why depression is more common in individuals with autism. Outside of the biochemical or neurological changes that may cause depression, people with autism:
And of course, adolescents and teens with ASD must navigate the same hormonal changes, but with may have less understanding or general community support around the puberty experience.
Studies show that the less time a person experiences depression without support, the harder it is to treat. So again, early and proactive intervention with clinicians and therapists is the best way to stay ahead of prospective issues - and to keep things from getting worse as the child gets older.
There are a few other neurological disorders that are more prevalent in populations with ASD.
As many as 38% of those with ASD can experience epileptic seizures (compared with only 1% of the general population. The first symptoms of epilepsy often appear during the teen years. Make sure to check in with your child’s physician if you notice:
This diagnosis is very rarely made in minors because waffling between mania (hyper) and depressive states is not uncommon in younger children and teens. That is especially true with a condition like ASD, where emotional regulation is more of a challenge.
Your ABA therapist and a psychiatrist who specializes in autism are your best allies when it comes to determining whether your teen or adult child with ASD’s behaviors seem outside of the autism realm. In that case, treatment is a careful choreography because many of the medications used to manage bipolar disorder make it harder for individuals with ASD to communicate and express their feelings.
Research shows that just a little over 8% of adults with ASD also have schizophrenia, the latter of which includes hallucinations and other episodes of psychosis. Like bipolar disorder, schizophrenia typically shows up in the late teen and early adult years. Antipsychotic meds and close supervision from trusted psychiatrists manage schizophrenia, and many individuals with ASD and schizophrenia are able to live independently.
We want to emphasize that while there are co-occurrences with ASD and certain mental health disorders, we are just on the frontier of discovering why this is and how to lower risks or incidences of them. There is no need to worry or live in fear of the future. And there is a good chance that the more we all work together today, to provide early, proactive, and well-researched support to young children with ASD, the less they will be affected by mental health disorders later on.
While applied behavior analysis (ABA) therapy may not prevent common co-occurring disorders, early intervention, family education and support, and consistent therapeutic interventions can substantially reduce their impact.
The Autism Response Team works closely with clients and their families, as well as teachers, to provide innovative therapeutic support that helps children with ASD thrive in their daily routines. Contact us to learn more about our services and how we can support your child and your household.
