Comorbidities Accompanying Autism

Intellectual Disability (Mental Retardation); in many cases, there is an accompanying diagnosis of intellectual disability, and mostly a moderate level of retardation is observed. Approximately 75% of individuals with autistic disorder are functionally retarded. However, in recent years, publications have also been produced reporting that this rate varies between 26% and 55%.

Feeding Problems; feeding problems are commonly observed in autistic children. Among these, the child's sucking is weak during the first months, and the feeding problem increases after the sixth month. Many infants reject all foods other than milk or refuse solid foods, while some may eat almost anything in amounts above normal.

Anxiety Disorders; in a study comparing children with high-functioning autism to children with specific language impairment and typically developing children, children with autism demonstrated higher anxiety compared to the two comparison groups, and scored higher on the separation anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder subtests. The social anxiety scores of the autism group were also found to be higher than those of the other two groups.

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder; "hyperactivity" is one of the leading conditions where attention control is not fully developed, and where control over attention becomes severely weakened, particularly in situations that are challenging and unpleasurable. While some children with autism can be overly active, some can be inactive and stagnant to an extent that can be described as "hyperpassive." In many children with autism, distractibility can also be seen along with hyperactivity. Sometimes, hyperactivity is observed only in certain environments and situations.