By Jessy McCulloch, Autism Home Support Services
Have you found aggression to be a struggle in your loved one with autism? If so, you’re most certainly not alone. In a study of 1,584 children with autism ages 2 to 17, researchers reported that about 53 percent were aggressive. According to these findings, “More than half of kids and adolescents with autism are physically aggressive and new research suggests that sleep, sensory and other underlying issues may be responsible for the behaviors.”
Some factors linked to the presence of aggression are the following:
- If they have sleep problems
- If they have sensory problems
- Education level of a child’s caregiver
- Presence of gastrointestinal issues
- Communication and social skills deficits
“Overall, the results of the current study indicate that aggression is markedly prevalent among children and adolescents with ASD, and that some sets of co-occurring problems may place individuals at risk for aggression,” wrote Micah Mazurek of the University of Missouri and her colleagues in the study.
This report is based on an assessment of children enrolled in the Autism Treatment Network, a nationwide network of care centers for children with Autism.
Source: disabilityscoop.com
