Autism Claiming Adult Lives Sooner than Thought, Reveals Study
Sweden conducted a research on autistic adults and revealed that they were dying 16 years prematurely, as compared to members of general population.
Autism charity, Autistica, referred to these findings as "hidden mortality crisis," revealing shocking disparity between disabled people and those who weren't.
Based on these revelations from research conducted by Karolinska Institute that examined 27,000 people with autism, Autistica disclosed its plans of beginning a new research programme worth £10 Million to study the reason as to why these people are dying before their time.
Autism is a disability disorder that impacts the way a person communicates with and comprehend other people. An estimate says that around 1% population is affected by autism and has different impact on different people due to wide array of conditions included.
If the national data is to be believed, the sufferers spoke little or no words. There is very bleak chance of these people ever being employed and 75% of them report at least one more mental health condition associated with their existing condition.
The study did not point out at exact reasons that can be attributed to premature deaths among autistic adults. However, suicide and epilepsy came up as two major causes for it.
The study, published in British Journal of Psychiatry, specified that in the range of 20-40% sufferers of autism were also suffering from epilepsy, as compared to 1% of the general population.
"This new research confirms the true scale of the hidden mortality crisis in autism. The inequality in outcomes for autistic people shown in this data is shameful. We cannot accept a situation where many autistic people will never see their 40th birthday. Everyone involved in supporting people on the autism spectrum from the Government right down to local care providers has a responsibility to step up and start saving lives as soon as possible," Job Spiers, Chief Executive - Autistica, said in a statement.
