.webp)
Autism and Related Conditions Resources: Connections, Challenges, and Care
Autism often exists alongside other conditions, known as co-occurring conditions, which can affect physical health, mental well-being, and daily functioning. Understanding the relationship between autism and these conditions is essential for providing comprehensive care and support. This resource page delves into the most common co-occurring conditions, such as social anxiety, ADHD, OCD, and more. Here, you’ll find insights into how these conditions interact with autism, strategies for management, and resources to help individuals and families navigate these complex challenges with confidence and compassion.
Recent Articles
Navigating Autism and Anxiety: Understanding the Unique Challenges Faced by Autistic Adults
It’s normal to feel anxious sometimes—but what if anxiety gets in the way of your day-to-day life? For nearly half of autistic people, severe anxiety disorders are a reality. Anxiety disorders come with psychological and physical symptoms that can be distressing and even make it difficult to function every day. For an autistic person, they can make common stressors like sensory and social stress even harder to manage. Understanding the relationship between autism and anxiety can help an autistic adult better understand themself and get support that makes a difference.
Navigating Autism and Gender Dysphoria: A Journey Towards Identity and Acceptance
For many people living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), exploring gender identity can feel especially complex. Research and community experience consistently show that autistic individuals are more likely to identify as transgender, nonbinary or outside the traditional gender binary than the general population.
That doesn’t mean being autistic causes someone to be transgender or vice versa. Instead, this should be a wake-up call to understanding how neurodivergence can shape people's experience and expression. For example, this can lead to an autistic person questioning social norms more often and feeling less pressure to conform to the traditional gender role for their assigned gender or sex.
Understanding this intersection is crucial. Gender dysphoria is often just one part of a broader autistic identity that deserves affirmation, respect and support. Recognizing how autism and gender diversity interact helps reduce stigma, improve mental health outcomes and empower autistic individuals to live more fully as their authentic selves.
Autism and Depression
Depression is one of the most common diagnoses to co-occur with autism spectrum disorder. As many as 40% of autistic individuals will have depression at some point during their lives. Researchers don’t have a definitive answer as to why––but many believe social stigma, mistreatment and insufficient support have to do with it.
Understanding the link between autism and depression can go a long way toward helping autistic individuals manage, or even move past, depression.
