Youth on the autism spectrum hospitalized for suicide related thoughts and behaviors: Characteristics and perspectives from the field.

Suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STB) are alarmingly prevalent in youth, with even higher rates among children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (hereafter autism) - a neurodevelopmental difference characterized by differences in social communication skills and restrictive and repetitive behaviors. Although autistic youth are hospitalized in psychiatric units at higher rates than their non-autistic peers, the limited research exploring hospital staff's experience with autistic patients and their families highlights a disconnect between providers and parents and a lack of knowledge about autism. The current study leveraged medical records of 86 hospitalized patients (43 autistic, 43 non-autistic) aged 6-18, extracting quantitative and qualitative data to explore differences in demographic characteristics, co-occurring diagnoses, and reasons and stressors related to hospitalization for suicide-related crises, as well as hospital staff's perceptions of autistic patients. Results indicated that autistic patients had more co-occurring diagnoses than non-autistic, with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder being the most common in autistic patients and anxiety and depression common in both autistic and non-autistic patents. Autistic patients' hospitalization was often related to aggression and stressors involving interpersonal skills. Behaviors related to rigidity were documented by hospital staff working with autistic psychiatric patients. Differences in factors related to hospitalization for suicide-related crises in autistic and non-autistic youth underscore the need for research on suicide risk factors unique to neurodivergent populations. Commonly documented behaviors of hospitalized autistic youth highlight the need for strength-based approaches to meet specific needs of autistic people.