Despite the hypothesized link betWeen arousal and behavior in persons With autism, there is a lack of idiographic research that directly assesses arousal responses to novel stimuli or social situations in this population. The current study used heart rate as a measure of sympathetic activity to compare arousal responses to the presentation of potentially stressful situations in five persons With autism and five age- and sex-matched typically developing individuals. Findings revealed that the group With autism shoWed significant responses to stressors only 22% of the time compared to the typically developing group, Which shoWed significant responses 60% of the time. Interpretation of these results and methodological considerations for future research on arousal in persons With autism are discussed.

The need for new initiatives in research into ageing in ASD is urgent. Apart from a growing care crisis, the prospect of understanding brain ageing in this population may bring potential rewards beyond immediate clinical need given the precedent of Down syndrome.

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Characteristics of persons with autism and other developmental disabilities may make this population especially vulnerable to the effects of stress. Prior research on stress and its measurement in this population is reviewed. Using a single-case multielement design, this study explores the feasibility of measuring cardiovascular responses to four stressors in 10 individuals (age 13 to 37 years) with autism and other developmental disabilities. Results suggest that assessing cardiovascular responses is a viable procedure for identifying individual differences in reactivity to specific environmental stressors. Implications of this research and future directions for assessment are discussed.

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