Nearly 78 per cent of children with autism have at least one mental health condition

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/01/210119114358.htm

January 19, 2021, ScienceDaily.com published the findings of a new study from The University of British Columbia's department of psychology and the AJ Drexel Autism Institute at Drexel University originally published December 22, 2020, that claims nearly 78 per cent of children with autism have at least one mental health condition and nearly half have two mental health conditions or more.

Researchers hope these eye-opening new numbers will prompt changes to public policy that make it easier for mental health treatments to be approved and funded for children with autism.

From the study was published Dec. 22 in The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. Dr. Kerns said; "The longer mental health conditions are allowed to exist and worsen, the harder they are going to be to treat. It's much better to catch them early. Right now, we don't have a great system for doing that.” He also said "If we think about ways to screen and intervene against these mental health conditions before these children even get to school, then we might be way ahead of the game,”