Autism spectrum disorders in adolescence and adulthood: Long-term outcomes and relevant issues for treatment and research

Abstract

The advances in research and treatment of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) over the past three decades have focused largely on early childhood and school-age years. Although ASD is a lifelong condition, there has been relatively little attention paid to ASD during the adolescent and adulthood periods. As the population of those with ASD continues to rise and age, the need to provide research and treatment for this group has become increasingly evident. This paper reviews the current literature available on symptoms, functioning, and treatment of adolescents and adults with ASD, as well as the unique issues that arise for individuals with ASD after childhood. Adulthood outcomes for ASD are generally poor, even for those with average to above average cognitive ability. Further research and additional clinical resources are needed for this rapidly increasing group.

Development of frontoparietal connectivity predicts longitudinal symptom changes in young people with autism spectrum disorder

“…The parent-reported longitudinal assessments revealed that total ASD and communication symptoms did not change at follow-up, whereas impairments in social interaction increased, and those within the restricted/repetitive domain decreased. These results contrast with the majority of clinical outcome studies 1,2 , which suggest that the majority of youths with ASD demonstrate symptom improvements, especially in the communication domain, whereas remaining relatively stable in repetitive/restricted behavior domain. The selection of a cohort of ASD without intellectual disabilities might partially contribute to the disagreement with previous clinical outcome reports, as initially less-severe symptoms in some subjects in the present study might have a “ceiling effect” on symptom improvement.…”

“…2d and e), suggests that remodeling of this network may represent an adaptive pathway following early atypical neural processes 26 . Moreover, consistent with prior work 10,27 , this result highlights the potential of leveraging brain-based statistical models to improve the predictive power of ASD outcomes, beyond cognitive, and demographic features 1,2 .…”

“…Despite being largely diagnosed in early childhood, individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) continue to experience changes in symptoms and reciprocal social interactions through adolescence to adulthood. Although these changes are clinically important, their nature and causes are not well-characterized 1,2 . The human connectome, comprising white matter tracts linking cortical and subcortical structures, also undergoes extensive reorganization and waves of maturation from late childhood, through adolescence to early adulthood 3 .…”

Positive Autism: Investigation of Workplace Characteristics Leading to a Strengths-Based Approach to Employment of People with Autism

“…A growing population of adolescents diagnosed with autism are graduating from high school with limited employment opportunities (Roux et al, 2013). Promoting employment participation for people with autism is an important research issue that is currently not being adequately addressed (Ratto & Mesibov 2015, Billstedt et al 2007Seltzer et al 2011;Shattuck et al 2007). Despite the importance of research into adulthood in autism being a means of "improving the quality of life and functioning of adults with autism, with the overall goal of enabling adults to lead fulfilling and productive lives in the community" (Orsmon et al, 2013 p. 271), in Australia, 99% of all current autism research focuses on the early years and school years (Autism CRC, 2015).…”

Perceived social support in adults with autism spectrum disorder and attention‐deficit/hyperactivity disorder

“…Our focus on adults was motivated by frequent reports that impairments in social relationships and poor functional outcomes in ASD continue into adulthood. This occurs even in the absence of intellectual disability and despite improvements in social interest, social responsiveness, and conversational skills [e.g., Eaves & Ho, ; Gotham et al, ; Ratto & Mesibov, ]. Investigating factors related to social functioning such as PSS may provide useful insights for future outcome‐related studies.…”