Life Expectancy

I think I'm a case in point of someone with ASD (the exact variety of which is waiting to be determined) whose physical health took a turn for the worse.  I've often been socially isolated (or at least "distant") and really struggled very seriously in social situations such as work, but I'm the bloody-minded type who just forced themselves to cope with it and dealt with the stress by means of a less than healthy lifestyle.  Yay, diabetes, heart disease and so on.  And then I find it difficult to talk to health professionals because I often find it hard to communicate, won't be taken seriously, will have meltdowns (such as right before my heart op because "argh other people", as you tend to find in hospital environments) and so on.

So while it's reasonable to say that ASD didn't directly cause my physical health problems, it has had a rather malign influence on my overall lifestyle.  Well, perhaps that's not entirely fair, I think it's just that modern society doesn't really cater for ASD people: for the most part, you either cope or you're cast adrift, so we cope as best we can, at least until we don't.  Obviously that needs to change, but I'm not optimistic as all the change I've seen in my lifetime has been in the wrong direction.

Thanks Random for your comments, wish you well.

I didnt state Autism kills you

In addition to all of the above reponses which all help to understand these statistics there are a couple of points to make.

Autism is a spectrum condition and it includes some who are completely unable to communicate with other people. These people are unable, or sometimes severely disinclined, to go to the doctors or to ask for help. This will lead to problems festering and getting out of control.

Some people with autism have very bad diets - very little variety, very little fruit and veg, some just drink coke etc etc. This can lead to problems.

The mental health consequences - which particularly affect people without a diagnosis - can lead to suicide and also great difficulties when dealing with medical services.

Many of these issues can be avoided because you have already found, at an early stage, that your son has autism. You can make sure that he has a sensible diet and that he learns about the importance of a balanced diet. You can help him avoid developing anxieties about health issues by showing him that people go to the doctor to get fixed rather than going to the doctor life threatening conditions. You can help him develop a healthy attitude to dealing with problems in life. He will probably meet a lot of difficulties in his life and the crucial thing is to continually look for the positive and to treat negative events as opportunities for learning.

Hi,

There are so many surveys, news, opinions on the internet and tv with a number of those to shock or build on people's anxieties. 

I don't know your son, and this isn't a simple question to address. My feelings are in-line with comments clovis highlighted.

Personally from my own experience, I am nearly 50 with aspergers. I am shocked at the support available to autistic adults. I am so angry that when I reached out for help in my early adult life, it was not there. Without going in to too much detail, this lead to 2 suicide attempts. One of the things I refelect on with my own diagnosis, is how many managed to succeed ending their life without the support they needed.

Again, on the Job situation is not an easy answer. I feel society is becoming more acceptable to the condition. For myself, my aspergers actually helped me to get in to the field I work in now. I can see colleagues I work with have asperger traits. I was behind at school at your son's age. I don't know what happened, but from around age 10 to 13, I had a real acceleration in my learning, and was one of the leading pupils. That also with being born in August, which meant the majority of my class were older than myself. (This is how if affected me personally, may well be different for your son)

If there is someway we can improve the support for autistic adults, I am sure that would improve life expectancy.

I hope for your son, when he reaches that age, things are better than they are now.

Random