KITCHENER Autism is not a disorder that acts alone.
Up to 84 per cent of children with autism spectrum disorder suffer from some type of anxiety disorder but because of overlapping symptoms and a lack of standard diagnostic tests many go untreated.
Irene Drmic, a psychologist and post-doctoral fellow at Offord Centre for Child Studies at McMaster University, discussed the issue of autism and anxiety at the fourth annual Autism Update hosted by KidsAbility on Friday.
There are a lot of kids with some sort of comorbid disorder, said Drmic about the fact that children with autism are more likely than their non-autistic peers to suffer from multiple disorders.
Anxiety disorders, such as separation anxiety and social anxiety, are the most prevalent among autistic children. The anxiety can translate to aggression or avoidance in the child and have a negative impact on their development.
It causes considerable stress with daily functioning, Drmic explained.
But anxiety disorders are manageable with proper treatment.
While more research is needed to define the difference between symptoms of anxiety and autism and fine-tune treatments for the challenges autism presents, Drmic said cognitive behaviour therapy is a viable option.
The problem currently lies with access.
The over 400 audience members, consisting of parents, teachers and physicians, questioned how to get children into therapy, pointing to a lack of options in the region.
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Autism forum raises questions about access to treatment