Age Differences in Emergency Department Visits and Inpatient Hospitalizations in Preadolescent and Adolescent Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

The team looked at insurance records for autistic youth ages 9 to 18. They counted how many kids went to the emergency room or were admitted to the hospital.

They split the group into preteens (9-12) and teens (13-18). Then they compared the numbers to kids without autism.

Autistic youth had more psychiatric ER visits and hospital stays at both ages. Injury-related visits stayed flat for preteens but jumped once puberty hit.

The spike in injury visits during the teen years points to a clear safety window you can target.

Iannuzzi et al. (2022) followed the same kids into young adulthood and saw the same high use. Their data say autistic 18- to 25-year-olds are admitted almost four times more than peers.

Amaral et al. (2019) zoomed in on private-insured teens and found psychiatric ER rates ten times higher than typical peers. Goris et al. (2021) added younger kids and still saw higher use, proving the pattern starts early.

Totsika et al. (2023) took the injury piece further. They show self-injury ER visits are a big slice of the jump M et al. saw. Together the papers say: psychiatric needs stay high, but teen years add a new layer of safety risk.

You can act before the teen spike. Add safety goals to the plan at age 11. Teach caregiver first-aid and crisis de-escalation. Loop in medical providers for seizure or self-injury screens. A few front-loaded hours now can cut ER trips later.