Along with Autism Spectrum Disorder, several other medical and behavioural conditions frequently occur. These conditions may include depression, anxiety, gastrointestinal problems, epilepsy, sleep related disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Gastrointestinal disorders have been found to be the most common conditions to be associated with autism. It includes diarrhoea, chronic constipation and inflammatory bowel conditions. People with ASD are also often found to have trouble falling asleep, or staying sound asleep all through a night. Poor sleeping pattern affects the daytime patterns as well, causing anxiety, irritation, inattentiveness and daytime sleepiness in the children. Medical issues like gastroesophageal reflux disease and epilepsy can also cause sleep problems in autism affected individuals. The most serious of problems present along with autism includes anxiety. About 30% of autistic children suffer with different forms of anxiety and depression, such as separation anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), social fear or extreme fear of certain things like loud noise. Also, once triggered, it is difficult to calm down such individuals. The anxiety ranges from mild to quite severe, and often is irrational. Adolescents are found to suffer from