The Statistics

• Suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death among autistic people.

• Females with ASD are more than 3X as likely to die from suicide as their neurotypical peers.

• Autistic people are 6X more likely to attempt suicide than the general population.

• Twice-exceptional youth—children who have a diagnosis of autism and who also have exceptional cognitive ability—are at increased risk of suicidal thoughts.

• The highest rate of suicide attempts and death by suicide among autistic people are those who do not have an intellectual disability.

• About 1 in 10 autistic individuals who also have ADHD have attempted suicide.

• Autistic children with an IQ of 120 or higher are 6x more likely to have thoughts of suicide.

• Young people with ASD are at twice the risk of suicide than young people without ASD.

• Individuals with ASD were less likely than others to die from firearm‐related suicides.

• Up to 66% of autistic people have considered suicide.

• Autistic children are bullied 3-4 times as often as their neurotypical peers.

• Co-occurring mental health conditions can increase an autistic person’s suicide risk.

• 41% to 50% of autistic kids have 2 or more mental health conditions.

References: ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, medicine.uiowa.edu, Sparkforautism.org, spectrumnews.org, Researchautism.org