Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Surprise! A Meaningful Autism Disorder Study Provides Evidence of Autism’s Harsh Realities

Autism is a disorder which, far beyond its core diagnostic criteria, brings with it higher than average medical conditions and psychiatric illnesses.   The health status of adults on the autism spectrum study confirms the harsh realities of autism disorders and should not be ignored or lightly dismissed by academics, mainstream media or professional “self” advocates who, despite their very high functioning levels, insist on burying the harsh realities of the severely autistic, like my son, in the mounds of autism ignorance they dump on the public landscape. As the study indicates autism disorders mean significantly higher than average psychiatric illnesses and medical conditions.  Not much joy to be found in those realities.This study though should be helpful in bringing a much needed dose of autism realities to the  public understanding of autism disorders and the harsh realities that accompany them.

The health status of adults on the autism spectrum

  1. Lisa A Croen1
  2. Ousseny Zerbo1
  3. Yinge Qian1
  4. Maria L Massolo1
  5. Steve Rich2
  6. Stephen Sidney1
  7. Clarissa Kripke3

  1. 1Kaiser Permanente Northern California—Oakland, USA

  2. 2Kaiser Permanente Northern California—Santa Rosa, USA

  3. 3University of California, San Francisco, USA
  1. Lisa A Croen, Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California—Oakland, 2000 Broadway, Oakland, CA 94612, USA. Email: Lisa.A.Croen@kp.org

Abstract

Compared to the general pediatric population, children with autism have higher rates of co-occurring medical and psychiatric illnesses, yet very little is known about the general health status of adults with autism. The objective of this study was to describe the frequency of psychiatric and medical conditions among a large, diverse, insured population of adults with autism in the United States. Participants were adult members of Kaiser Permanente Northern California enrolled from 2008 to 2012. Autism spectrum disorder cases (N = 1507) were adults with autism spectrum disorder diagnoses (International Classification of Diseases-9-Clinical Modification codes 299.0, 299.8, 299.9) recorded in medical records on at least two separate occasions. Controls (N = 15,070) were adults without any autism spectrum disorder diagnoses sampled at a 10:1 ratio and frequency matched to cases on sex and age. Adults with autism had significantly increased rates of all major psychiatric disorders including depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, obsessive–compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, and suicide attempts. Nearly all medical conditions were significantly more common in adults with autism, including immune conditions, gastrointestinal and sleep disorders, seizure, obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes. Rarer conditions, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease, were also significantly more common among adults with autism. Future research is needed to understand the social, healthcare access, and biological factors underlying these observations.
Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Surprise! A Meaningful Autism Disorder Study Provides Evidence of Autism’s Harsh Realities

Autism is a disorder which, far beyond its core diagnostic criteria, brings with it higher than average medical conditions and psychiatric illnesses.   The health status of adults on the autism spectrum study confirms the harsh realities of autism disorders and should not be ignored or lightly dismissed by academics, mainstream

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: It’s Still "Gotta Be Genetic" as Autism Genetic Research Re-Invents Itself Yet Again

   National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences:  Gene-Environment Interaction: Nearly all diseases result from a complex interaction between an individual’s genetic make-up and the environmental agents that he or she is exposed to. Genetic research has maintained a near monopoly over autism causation research dollars for many years and with

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Research Into Early Autism Interventions – La Trobe University Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC)

Another excellent, thorough discussion from LaTrobe University’s  Olga Tennison Autism Research Centre (OTARC) focusing this time on early intervention research.    “Published on 16 Mar 2014 Dr Kristelle Hudry, Dr Giacomo Vivanti, Dr John McEachin discuss the development and trends of research into early intervention. Topics covered include the neurodiversity

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Parent Observation Based Study: Children With Autism Disorders as Early as 12 Months Display Highly Elevated Range of Repetitive Behaviors

Some study results that don’t surprise me given the use of parent observation, the most, and perhaps only,  reliable source of information concerning autism symptoms during children’s infancy: Longitudinal patterns of repetitive behavior in toddlers with autism Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry,  “Conclusions “These findings suggest that as early

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: SFARI Continues Misrepresenting High Functioning Autism Only Research As "Autism" Research

The Simon Foundation Autism Research Initiative, SFARI, continues to represent studies involving only high functioning autistic participants to the public as “autism” studies.  In the Children with autism have trouble recalling memories article posted January 3, 2014 SFARI reports as an “autism” study a study which excluded as participants the

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Intellectual Dishonesty: Autism Disorders Misrepresentation Via High Functioning Autism Only Research

In the picture above SFARI presents news of two “autism” studies which purport to find that brains of persons with “autism” are overly connected as compared to those in control groups. In fact both studies intentionally and expressly excluded persons with autism and intellectual disability, approximately 50% of those with

Continue reading

Facing Autism Disorders in New Brunswick: Autism Research Community’s Failing Grades: Vocational Interventions Research

“In the end, the researchers found only five studies that focused on vocational interventions. While this handful of studies looked at certain on-the-job programs designed to support young adults with autism and suggest these “interventions” can improve quality of life and reduce symptoms of autism, the study authors concluded, “all

Continue reading

Facing Autism Disorders in New Brunswick: Guilty! Autism Blame from Cold Moms to Old Dads

Breaking Science News: Guilty! Old Dads convicted of causing children’s autism disorders, all charges dropped against environmental toxins! Once upon a time the medical community accepted without critical analysis the speculation that aloof, cold “refrigerator” moms caused their children’s autism disorders. Eventually that so called theory was exposed as a

Continue reading

Facing Autism in New Brunswick: Autism Researcher Bias and the Targeted Exclusion of Intellectually Disabled in the DSM-5 Autism Do-Over

Autism researcher bias exists and its effect, when the DSM-5 takes effect in 2013,  will further the redefinition of autism as social awkwardness and the exclusion from the autism spectrum of persons with severe intellectual disabilities.   David Kupfer, M.D., chair of the DSM-5 Task Force,  has stated that “the proposed

Continue reading