“Autism itself does not, to our knowledge, directly reduce life expectancy, but we know that autistic people experience health inequalities, meaning that they often don’t get the support and help that they need when they need it,” said lead investigator of the study, Professor Josh Stott.
The findings provide the first evidence that diagnosed autistic people were more likely to die prematurely in the UK across the time period studied, indicating an urgent need to address inequalities that disproportionately affect autistic people. However, the new estimates also suggest that the widely reported statistic that autistic people live 16 years less on average is likely to be incorrect.
“Our findings show that some autistic people were dying prematurely, which impacted the overall life expectancy. However, we know that when they have the right support, many autistic people live long, healthy and happy lives,” said Stott.
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“We do need to find out why some autistic people are dying prematurely so that we can identify ways to prevent this from happening.”Some autistic people also have learning disabilities, and can find it hard to explain to others when they are experiencing pain or discomfort. This can mean that health problems go undetected.”We believe that the findings of this study reflect inequalities that disproportionately affect autistic people,” said joint-lead author Dr Elizabeth O’Nions.
Source: IANS
