PAGE: WORK IN PROGRESS Co-occurring conditions & experiences

There is a range of conditions and experiences that co-occur with autism (much of the information below is from HERE).

These can include:

• Attention differences (“Attention Deficit [Hyperactivity] Disorder”)
  • Hyperfocus
  • Time-blindness
• Alexithymia – a difficulty processing how you feel
• Hearing impairments/differences
  • Also sensory differences that relate to hearing
• Hypermobility – Elhers Danios Syndrome
• Dyslexia
• Dyspraxia
• Dyscalculia
• Epilepsy
• Hyperlexia
  • Hyperlexia is characterised by an intense fascination with letters or numbers or, in younger people, an ability to read far beyond their age. People with hyperlexia may, nevertheless, have difficulty understanding verbal language and interacting and socialising with others. Find out more at Hyperlexia UK.
• Learning disabilities 
  • Autistic people can have different ‘degrees’ of learning disability, which can affect all aspects of their life, from studying in school to learning how to wash themselves or make a meal. Some people will be able to live fairly independently – although they may need a degree of support to achieve this – while others may require lifelong, specialist support. People with a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome do not usually have accompanying learning disabilities, but may still have specific learning difficulties, such as dyslexia.
  • Find out more from BILD, Foundation for people with Learning Disabilities, and Mencap.
• Differences in communication (e.g. minimally verbal, non-verbal, and this may change across time and in different contexts)
• Anxiety
• Depression (although this may be autistic burnout, not depression)
• Need for routine (“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder”)
• Tourettes
• Voice-hearing (“psychosis”, “schizophrenia”)
• Harmful stims
• Self injurious behaviour
• Executive functioning differences
• Disturbed sleep