Adults
Adults with ASD: Articles and Special Features
With growing interest from adults on the autism spectrum, their families, and researchers, we've steadily expanded our focus to include adults. One of our primary goals became reality on IAN's two-year anniversary: the launch of our online Adult with ASD Questionnaire on IAN Research. Select from the links below to learn more about research focused on adults with ASD and their families.
Deciding When to Disclose
High functioning adults who do not show very obvious signs of having an ASD often face a decision: when and if to disclose their ASD at school, work, or in relationships. Read about factors to consider when making disclosure decisions.
Publication Date: June 16, 2010
Rules of the Road: Driving and ASD
The young person with high-functioning ASD faces all of the same challenges as anyone else getting behind the wheel of a car for the first time. Plus, autism may pose additional challenges, such as attentional difficulties and anxiety. Read about the experiences of these young drivers as well as some of the early research into how to support their efforts.
Publication Date: November 24, 2009
IAN Report: National Town Hall Meeting Focuses on Adults on the Autism Spectrum
Connie Anderson, IAN's Online Community Facilitator, recently attended a national town hall meeting held by a new organization, Advancing Futures for Adults with Autism (AFAA). Read her report on topics discussed and consensus reached as adults with ASD, parents, providers, and advocates gathered in sixteen cities, linked by the latest in meeting technologies, to begin working to improve the situation of adults with ASD in the United States.
Publication Date: November 23, 2009
First Look: Data on Adults on the Autism Spectrum
Get a preview of the initial data provided by adults, or their legal representatives, who responded to the IAN Adult with ASD Questionnaire. These data are preliminary, gathered from a small sample of respondents thus far, but perhaps you have some ideas on how to reach more of these adults, who can provide valuable information to advocates, policymakers, and researchers.
Publication Date: September 9, 2009
Two-Year Anniversary: IAN Launches Adult with ASD Surveys
After testing a pilot survey and incorporating public feedback, IAN releases its Adult with ASD Questionnaire. Researchers want to know: Are adults with ASD satisfied with their lives? What are their living situations like? Are they surviving financially, succeeding in the workplace, content with their relationships? Are they coping with any medical or mental health issues, and do they have access to health care?
Publication Date: April 2, 2009
Romantic Relationships for Young Adults with Asperger's Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism
Despite the social struggles experienced by many people with high-functioning autism or Asperger's syndrome, some adults are able to develop intimate personal relationships. Read more in this article by Tony Attwood.
Publication Date: February 20, 2009
The 'C' Word: Common Cause in Spite of Conflicting Perspectives
Connie Anderson, Ph.D., IAN's Community Scientific Liaison, explores cure as hope, as answer, and as healing...and cure as hurtful condemnation of a different way of being and thinking. However, what may be most useful is not to let the c-word get in the way of what everyone wants: a greatly improved situation for individuals with ASD.
Publication Date: November 6, 2008
Adults with ASD: The Spectrum
Many children with ASD improve in social and communication behaviors during adolescence and adulthood. Researchers are wondering: What distinguishes these children from those who don't seem to benefit from the same degree of improvement? What can be done to maximize the potential of each individual in the real world?
Publication Date: October 28, 2008
Adults with ASDs: My Brother's (Sister's) Keeper
The sibling bond typically undergoes major changes during adulthood. Researchers are delving into the possibility that this bond plays a key role in the quality of adult life when one of the siblings has an ASD.
Publication Date: August 20, 2008
Adult Employment: Strangers in a Strange Land
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Today's 20-somethings with autism often feel like strangers among their own species when they leave the legal protections afforded schoolchildren to enter the adult world of limited support services, long waiting lists, and scant funding. Those who become accomplished sometimes look back on their experiences to reflect on their sense of alienation in a society that doesn't look favorably on those who don't blend in easily. Find out what the researchers have learned about the transition. |
Behavior Therapy Beyond Childhood
Can teens and adults benefit from behavior therapy? In this article, Tom Frazier and Leslie Sinclair of the Cleveland Clinic bust the myth that intensive behavior therapy works only for young children.
Publication Date: January 24, 2008
Very Late Diagnosis of Asperger's Syndrome
Professor Simon Baron-Cohen and his colleagues, all at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, discuss the "lost generation" -- those with Asperger's who grew up before the diagnosis existed. They describe a unique program designed to help diagnose and assist these adults, helping them to understand themselves as well as to access services and support.
Publication Date: April 2, 2007
