Epilepsy and autism

Epilepsy is more common in autistic people than in non-autistic people. Epilepsy affects someone’s brain and causes them to have seizures. Over 600,000 people in the UK have epilepsy¹, and about 9% of people with epilepsy are also autistic.²

Epilepsy and autism: key messages

Epilepsy is a brain condition that causes seizures which is more common in autistic people than non-autistic people.
It can be challenging to diagnose epilepsy in autistic individuals compared to non-autistic people.
Treatments for epilepsy can be less effective for autistic people, but through research, we can find better solutions.

About epilepsy

Epilepsy is a condition that affects the brain and causes seizures. Seizures are bursts of electrical activity that temporarily affect how the brain works. There are several different types of seizures that affect people differently. To be diagnosed with epilepsy, someone must have more than one seizure.

Signs that someone is having a seizure include:

Temporary confusion
A staring spell
Uncontrollable jerking movements of the arms and legs
Loss of consciousness or awareness.

People with epilepsy do not usually need medical attention if they are having a seizure. However, it is important to call 999 if:

The seizure lasts more than five minutes or is longer than their usual seizure length
Someone seriously injures themselves while having a seizure
It is someone’s first seizure
Someone does not regain consciousness or has multiple seizures in a row.

About epilepsy and autism

Epilepsy is more common in autistic people than in non-autistic people.

Epilepsy is more likely to occur if someone else in the family has had seizures. If someone in a family has epilepsy, they may have autistic relatives.

Epilepsy can develop later in autistic people than in non-autistic people. Autistic people who have epilepsy may have their first seizures as teenagers, whereas non-autistic people are more likely to begin having seizures in childhood, especially in their first year of life.

Sadly, epilepsy is one of the leading causes of early death for autistic people. Autistic people are more likely to have epilepsy types resistant to standard treatments. Despite this, little research has explored the relationship between epilepsy and autism.

Researchers believe that variations in certain genes, along with other factors, such as chemical processes in the body and the environment, lead to the brain being ‘overactive’, which can increase the likelihood of seizures.

Diagnosing epilepsy in autistic people is complicated because:

Repetitive movements common in autistic people can be mistaken for epileptic seizures, or someone's seizures may be mistaken for stimming.
Autistic people might have difficulty tolerating tests for epilepsy, such as brain scans.