Parents of children and adults with autism, government and service providers should all be aware of the important connection, sometimes painful, sometimes fatal connection between autism and epilepsy. March 26 2020 is Purple Day and anyone affected by autism, particularly autism with intellectual disability, would be wise to visit web sites dedicated to creating genuine awareness of epilepsy. One I frequently visit is Epilepsy Foundation.
The World Health Organization has reported for many years that 50% of persons with autism also suffer from intellectual disability. Those with autism w/o ID have a 9 year shortened life expectancy with depression and suicide being the primary triggering factors. As reported by Autistic UK Persons with autism and intellectual disability have a 30 year, THIRTY YEAR, reduced life expectancy with the primary trigger of the early deaths being epileptic seizures.
Migraines sometimes accompany seizures and can occur without the more obvious signs of a grand mal//tonic clonic seizure:
Headache as a Consequence of Seizures
Headache and epilepsy share many possible clinical interrelationships. (See Table: Migraine and Epilepsy) The disorders may exist independently or may be associated in certain syndromes. Migraine may trigger epilepsy, or epilepsy may initiate headache.
Headache is commonly associated with seizures as a preictal, ictal, or postictal phenomenon, but it is often neglected because of the dramatic neurologic manifestations of the seizure. Patients with migraine-triggered epilepsy seek medical attention because of seizures, which may overshadow the migraine and be overlooked by both patient and physician. Headache can also be the sole or most predominant clinical manifestation of epileptic seizures, although this is a relatively rare situation.
My son Conor is not part of the "autism is a gift" community. He brings us great joy and he is known for his incredible smile and enthusiasm for life (the Run, Jump, Fly Boy) but he has been on seizure medications for a number of years and he has suffered a number of grand mal seizures that we know of. It is also possible that he has suffered seizures at night that we are unaware of.
Despite his joy of life Conor has suffered from actual pain, sudden, migraine pain as shown in the pictures below. These pictures were taken with my camera on an athletic setting. With that setting you can take multiple pictures very quickly of persons engaged in athletic activities or in the case of these photos multiple photos of Conor on the swings within a few seconds. In these photos Conor was on the swings at his old grade school, on a Saturday morning, mild temperature, and almost no sound. He was happy, very happy and then he wasn't. Suddenly he suffered pain in his head and this is unfortunately not an uncommon occurrence for him or for other persons with autism, intellectual disability and seizures &/or epilepsy:
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