Children with autism are more likely than others to suffer from anxiety, which is often what keeps them from academic achievements, says an Australian research.
Researchers at the Griffith University Autism Centre of Excellence found that 40% of autistic kids had anxiety which was eight times higher than the prevalence in other kids. They also pointed out that autism specific anxiety shows up in behaviour like repetition or avoiding.
Associate professor Dawn Adams says that this often results in a child with autism either refusing to learn or being excluded from certain activities. “Children with both anxiety and autism tend to drop off as a means of avoidance, especially when faced with the growing difficulty levels of education,” she said.
As a result of this, they usually don’t end up living to their full potential even as adults, believes the researcher from Griffith University. She adds that they often remain under-skilled which prompts them to take up jobs with low skills that don’t pay too well. The anxiety, she points out, continues to present itself at the workplace making an autistic person choose to put in fewer hours into it which further impacts their income.
