Suicidality assessment of people with autism needs better tools

April 27, 2018|Internal Medicine

REPORTING FROM THE AAS ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Dr. Ackerman, Dr. Wynn, and their associates at Nationwide Children’s already have applied these understandings to change the way they deal with people with ASD. “We make sure that the staff dealing with people with autism know how to respond,” Dr. Ackerman said. But the new ASQ under development represents a potentially important step forward. “It’s embarrassing to say that we don’t have the necessary tools” to deal effectively with depression and suicidality in people with ASD, he admitted.

The recognition that people with ASD need tailored methods for both identifying and intervening with suicidality appears to be part of an emerging appreciation by clinicians who work on suicide prevention of the “need to meet people where they are,” Dr. Ackerman said. Similar approaches might be needed for various ethnic and racial groups, gays, transgender people, those who are hearing impaired, and others who might respond better to novel approaches.

Dr. Wynn and Dr. Ackerman had no disclosures.

mzoler@mdedge.com