Astounded at the co-incidence of Aspergers and Type 1 Diabetes

I have type 1 diabetes (for 48 years).  I have a son who was diagnosed with Aspergers at age 3 and with T1D at age 4.  In my community of 200,000 people, we know of 5 cases of both Aspergers and T1D occurring together.  That incidence seems much higher than would be expected if the two rare disorders were independent.  There is a small body of scientific literature that supports that autism (including Aspergers) has an autoimmune etiology.  And it is well established that if a person has one autoimmune disease, they are at much higher risk of other autoimmune diseases.

For all the Aspergers people I know, there is a near-unamimous comfort with regimentation and a consistent life schedule.  I guess the blessing in disguise with Aspergers and diabetes is that scheduled living is great for diabetes management. 

I am also surprised at how common the two positions coexist. I also have aspergers and T1D. And I have also met more people with both than just with T1D