Autistic Individuals Have Poorer Health and Healthcare

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Summary: Autistic individuals are more likely to experience chronic physical and mental health problems than their peers without ASD. Additionally, those on the autism spectrum are more likely to report inadequacies in health care services provided to them.

Source: University of Cambridge

https://neurosciencenews.com/asd-health ... ROvXi4x-pk

Is this because of lack of exercise, bad diets, etc. If so I wonder why the lack of exercise and bad diets. SOme others with autism who I know eat whatever they want whenever they want (is this typical, or more typical, in autism). Also they don't think cardiovascular exercise is important. WHen they try it it is drudgery to them. Poor understanding of one's body?

Many of us have sensory issues when it comes to food and exercise is basically torture due to our poor motor skills. It's not something we can help, we're lucky we can walk through an open doorway without banging into it. Meanwhile the healthcare system acts like we're nothing but a burden on it and everyone else, and if it had it's way it make us all wear a "do not resuscitate" tag in the hospital.

If there is a genetic component to the causing of autism, there could be related genetic health effects.

Although, using the sample set of myself, Mom, Dad, gives a mixed message on that point:

I am autistic, Mom is autistic, Dad is not autistic.

Dad and I have several of the same immune, endocrine, neurological, mitochondrial, health problems.
Which hit each of us hard at about the same age, mid-40s.
Even though we had very different careers and not entirely similar lifestyles.
Is there a genetic connection there?

Self-help is impaired to some extent in those with Autism. Even high functioning individuals can have quite poor self-help skills that are hard to grasp based on how they appear (invisible disability, after all). This can lead to health conditions for obvious reasons.

Pain tolerance levels are also varied (either way), which too, can lead to something like a delayed diagnosis of a health condition.

Poor executive functioning can lead to it being too much of a bother to utilize health services, which again, can lead to health conditions and/or delayed diagnoses. This will be one factor in the poor self-help skills, though.

Someone mentioned sensory and motor deficits, and they'll be a reason too (pain tolerance will come under this). I can't walk through doorways without often hitting the sides.

As someone else mentioned, Autism on its own might come with genetic susceptibility to other health conditions (autoimmune, joint hypermobility syndrome and others have an association), and it might make us more susceptible to infections too due to an altered immune response (it might help too depending on what).