Almost 30 percent of young children with autism also show signs of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a rate that's three times higher than it is in the general population, a new study shows.
“We don't know the cause for ADHD in most cases. We don't know the cause of autism in most cases. It's not surprising that something that's going to affect the brain and cause one developmental outcome may also cause a second developmental outcome,” said Dr. Andrew Adesman, chief of developmental and behavioral pediatrics at Steven and Alexandra Cohen Children's Medical Center in Lake Success, N.Y. He was not involved in the study.
Kids in the study who had both problems together also tended to have more difficulty learning and socializing than children who had autism alone.
