Nearly 30 percent of young children with autism also have symptoms of ADHD — a rate that’s three
times greater than the general population, according to a new study published in the journal
For the study, researchers asked parents of children (ages 4-8) enrolled in a community-based study of child development about symptoms of attention and hyperactivity: whether or not children could wait their turn, interrupted others who were speaking, fiddled with things during meals or could not slow down, for example.
Out of the 62 children diagnosed with autism, 18 (29 percent) also showed signs of ADHD — and all were boys. The children with both conditions tended to have more problems with learning and socializing than children who had autism alone.
