Associated conditions

OCD

The National autistic society has a page about Obsessive compulsive disorder and Autism.     They say that autism shares some similarities with OCD but point out significant differences.     Click icon to view.     It has links specifically about OCD at the bottom, including from Mind and the NHS.

Swallowing difficulties

Dysphagia is the medical word for difficulties with swallowing.     Scope, the disability equality charity, has a webpage about it.     They say that some people may have difficulty organising the muscles in the mouth, lips and tongue to work at the right times and in the right order for swallowing.     Click icon to view.     Also:

• The NHS outlines signs, causes and treatments.     They say that learning disability is a common cause.     To be clear, they say that people with autism may have a learning disability.
• Kids feeding team uses a more specific term, Neurological dysphagia.     This is where the difficulties have a neurological cause.     They offer related paid-for services.

See FAQ menu for more associated conditions.

 Mental health

The National Autistic Society has a page about mental health and autism.      Click page icon to view.      Also, Autistica has produced a help sheet about autism and mental health.

   Click icon to view.

Tap button to download, then open in PDF viewer.  

Download PDF – 630KB

More specifically

• Here is a handy guide to Healthy coping skills for uncomfortable emotions written by a psychotherapist.
• Patients may be referred to a psychiatrist for associated mental health issues.       See NHS introduction.      
• Ambitious about Autism has produced a guide to making the most of an appointment.
• Many on the autistic spectrum could be interested in:  Stress and autism spectrum disorders       new

NHS reforms

The NHS Transforming care agenda has been aiming to support autistic children and adults in the community rather than inappropriate inpatient units.      Click icon to read about it.

  Demand avoidance

Pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is a profile that describes those whose main characteristic is to avoid everyday demands and expectations to an extreme extent.      Click icon for the National autistic society page.   

 PDA society

Pathological demand avoidance (PDA) is part of the autism spectrum.         Click page icon on the left for PDA society website.

See also: Support strategies from the PDA society.       Click Facebook icon for the PDA support group – a large Facebook group.

Demand avoidance sounds similar to Oppositional defiance, so what is the difference?      Have a look at Parenting strategies and look for the Lisa Atkin heading.       See also: Sue Larkey.   

Executive functioning

Executive functions are the brain’s self-management system.        Problems with executive function can be linked to autistic traits in later life.      Here is an Options guide.       Click icon to view.

  Tourettes

Tourette’s syndrome is a condition that causes a person to make involuntary sounds and movements called tics.       See introduction

See also