All-cause mortality and suicide mortality in autistic individuals: An entire population longitudinal study in Taiwan.

Tsai et al. (2023) tracked every person with autism in Taiwan for 15 years. They matched each autistic person to four same-age, same-sex people without autism. Then they counted who died and how.

Autistic people died earlier and more often. Suicide hit autistic men hardest. Accidents took the most autistic women. Even natural causes, like heart disease, struck them more often.

Gillberg et al. (2010) saw the same pattern in a U.S. town years earlier. Their small study warned us; the Taiwan numbers prove it holds across an entire nation.

Akobirshoev et al. (2020) found autistic adults—especially women—are 50 % more likely to die in hospital. Shih-Jen et al. show women also die more outside hospital, mainly from accidents. The two studies line up: women on the spectrum face extra deadly risk everywhere.

Hand et al. (2020) saw high suicide attempts in U.S. autistic adults. Shih-Jen et al. now show those attempts turn into real deaths in Taiwan. Same cliff, sharper drop.

You now have population-level proof that your autistic clients may lose years of life. Build suicide-safety plans for teen and adult males. Teach street and home safety skills to females. Add regular health screens for all. These steps can bend the curve.