Autistic Adults & Autoimmunity: Why This Connection Deserves More Attention

Every once in a while, I fall down a research rabbit hole—usually when something feels personal or when a topic keeps tugging at my curiosity. This time, that rabbit hole led me to a conversation we really don’t have often enough: the relationship between autism and autoimmune conditions.

It left me asking the big question:

Is this correlation, causation, or something more complex in between?

And honestly… the more I read, the more I realized how much we’ve been missing by not looking at this more closely.

Autism Isn’t Just About Communication—It’s About the Whole Body

So much of the public conversation about autism focuses on communication styles, sensory needs, or social differences. Those things matter, of course—but autistic people live in actual bodies, and those bodies have stories and struggles that often get ignored.

For years, autistic adults have reported things like unexplained fatigue, chronic gut issues, thyroid problems, inflammation, and brain fog. But these symptoms are frequently written off as anxiety, stress, or “just part of autism.”

What if they’re not?

What if they’re pointing to something physiological we’ve been overlooking?

What the Research Shows So Far

This isn’t a brand-new idea. Research dating back more than a decade has examined the immune system in autistic individuals.

• Early work like Enstrom, Van de Water & Ashwood (2009) found patterns of immune irregularities and autoantibodies in autistic populations.

• More recent work, including Hughes, Moreno & Ashwood (2024), builds on that by exploring innate immune dysfunction and chronic neuroinflammation.

These findings don’t claim a definitive cause-and-effect relationship—but they do reveal a pattern that keeps showing up. Enough times that it deserves attention, not dismissal.

And while we absolutely need more research, the emerging picture is clear:

The immune system and the nervous system are deeply intertwined—and autism research can’t afford to treat them as separate worlds.

The Body Is Always Communicating (Even If We’re Not Listening)

Here’s where this gets even more interesting.

The nervous and immune systems are in constant conversation. They respond to each other, regulate each other, and can even dysregulate each other.

Now imagine spending years—or decades—living in a world that overwhelms your sensory system, demands masking, and pushes your body into chronic fight-or-flight. That constant “high alert” doesn’t just disappear. It becomes a physiological pattern.

Chronic stress + sensory overload + immune sensitivity = a recipe for inflammation.

And in some people? That inflammation becomes autoimmunity.

When you put those pieces together… the lived experiences of autistic adults suddenly make a lot more sense.

Validation Matters More Than We Realize

This is the part that hit me the hardest.

For so long, autistic adults have been told:

• “You’re just tired because you don’t sleep well.”

• “Your gut issues are anxiety.”

• “Everyone gets brain fog.”

• “You’re overreacting.”

But what if fatigue has an inflammatory root? What if gut issues reflect immune dysregulation? What if brain fog is part of a larger neuroimmune cycle?

These symptoms aren’t character flaws, lack of effort, or imagined struggles. They’re real, physical

signals that deserve real care.

And naming that is powerful. It’s validating. It’s liberating.

Where Nutrition and Integrative Care Come In

No single food, diet, or supplement can “fix” autism or autoimmunity—and that’s not what this conversation is about.

But nutrition does play a role in supporting the systems that are already involved:

• Gut health influences inflammation and immune response.

• Nutrient status affects energy production, hormone balance, and stress resilience.

• Specific dietary patterns can either calm or amplify inflammatory pathways.

Again, this isn’t about cures. It’s about support. It’s about giving autistic bodies what they need to function more comfortably, more sustainably, and with fewer barriers.

Nutrition doesn’t replace medical care—but it absolutely deserves a seat at the table.

A Path Forward: Integrative, Compassionate Care

Suppose we want care that truly serves autistic adults (and autistic children growing into autistic adults). In that case, immune health, gut health, nervous system regulation, and nutritional support can’t be treated as afterthoughts.

They’re part of the real picture. They’re part of lived reality. And they’re part of the solutions that people have been missing for far too long.

Because when someone finally gets answers that match their actual experience—not a stereotype, not a dismissal—it changes everything. It opens doors to treatments, tools, and possibilities that were never offered before.

And everyone deserves that.

References

1. Enstrom AM, Van de Water JA, Ashwood P. Autoimmunity in autism. Curr Opin Investig Drugs. 2009;10(5):463-473.

2. Hughes HK, Moreno RJ, Ashwood P. Innate Immune Dysfunction and Neuroinflammation in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Focus (Am Psychiatr Publ). 2024;22(2):229-241. doi:10.1176/appi.focus.24022004