Study - Autistics dying at 2X rate of general population

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People with autism spectrum disorder are dying at twice the rate of the general population, a landmark Australian study published on Tuesday has found.

The biggest cause of death is injury or poisoning from suicide, self-harm or accident, the University of NSW analysis involving the records of almost 36,000 people with the disorder in NSW showed.

Professor Julian Trollor, senior study author and chairman of Intellectual Disability Mental Health at UNSW, said the "major health gap" for people with ASD deserves a "co-ordinated, cohesive, high-level response".

Injury and poisoning - including suicide - accounted for 23 per cent of all deaths among people with ASD, and 50 per cent among people with ASD without intellectual disability, between 2001 and 2015, found the most comprehensive study of causes of death among Australians with ASD.

Nervous system and sense disorders were a close second top cause of death, most likely the result of epileptic seizures. They accounted for 20 per cent of ASD deaths (largely driven by people with ASD and intellectual disability) compared to just 2 per cent in the general population.

The researchers found poor mental health, epilepsy and chronic physical illness were all independent risk factors for death among people with ASD.

NSW Mental Health Minister Tanya Davies said the NSW Ministry of Health would consider the findings of the study.

What about the monsters who murder their autistic children?