What's it like being you? Growing old(er) with Autism Spectrum Conditions – A Scoping Study

Abstract

The aim of this scoping study was to understand which issues are of salience for the experiences of adults with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASCs) as they grow older, in order to determine themes for a follow up study using in-depth interviews. Four adults (two female, two male) on the high-functioning end of the autism spectrum were interviewed with a purposely broad semi-structured interview schedule. The transcripts were analysed using Thematic Analysis to identify emerging themes. The themes identified are depression, effects of diagnosis, experiences with mental health professionals and therapists, the inverted relationship between educational level and career, the participant as autism expert, and communication/social interaction. The findings echo some existing research and present an insight into the lived experiences of older adults with autism. The themes identified in the scoping study will form the basis for further qualitative studies. Implications for further research are also discussed.

Enhancing the Validity of a Quality of Life Measure for Autistic People

“…It is also the case that autistic people may not easily summarise information in order to generalise, given a particular style of ‘autistic sense-making’ (De Jaegher 2013 ); they are more likely to focus on detail or on what happened most recently. It is clear from the existing literature about autistic people’s lives (Elichaoff 2015 ; Hirvikoski and Blomqvist 2015 ; Bargiela et al 2016 ; Hickey et al 2017 ) that they encounter frequent and multiple stressors, and thus their perceived QoL (particularly physical and psychological) may indeed go up and down within a month’s interval. Stability over an average of 1 year was better for the WHOQoL-BREF domains, which suggests that the measure does have potential sensitivity as an outcome measure for evaluation of interventions.…”

‘I was exhausted trying to figure it out’: The experiences of females receiving an autism diagnosis in middle to late adulthood

“…Of the research that has focused on middle to late adulthood, studies have included adult participants who received a diagnosis in childhood or early adulthood (e.g. Griffith, Totsika, Nash, & Hastings, 2011), have mostly focused on males (Elichaoff, 2015; Hickey, Crabtree, & Stott, 2018; Punshon, Skirrow, & Murphy, 2009) or have not discussed gender as a factor (Lewis, 2016). Thus, there remains a scarcity of research that investigates the specific experiences of adult females, especially those in middle and later adulthood.…”