Autism in adulthood : challenges and management最新文献

{"title":"Autism-Informed Academic Librarians.","authors":"Amelia Anderson","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0119","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0119","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>On college campuses, the academic library can be a place of comfort for some Autistic students. Autistic college students report using the library to explore their interests and as a place to escape a busy campus environment. However, academic librarians are not required to have a formal education about autism or neurodiversity more broadly.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Through content analysis, this study examines sessions presented at the largest biannual conference for academic librarians in the United States to determine if, and how, attendees gain access to autism information.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Results indicate that few sessions focus specifically on autism but that the number is growing, especially when included within sessions about neurodiversity more broadly. Additionally, the language used to describe autism is increasingly in alignment with Autistic preferences.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Conference sessions about autism and neurodiversity are limited but growing in number and quality. By encouraging more professional development opportunities for academic librarians to learn about autism, college and university students will benefit from more informed librarians and more inclusive library environments.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Academic libraries are important support spaces for some autistic college students, yet academic librarians receive no formal training or education about autism.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>This study sought to understand if academic librarians receive autism education through professional conference sessions.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>The researcher studied conference programs from five previous biannual, national conferences of the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL), the largest conference in the United States for academic librarians, to find all references to autism or neurodiversity more broadly. The researcher analyzed conference sessions using descriptive statistics to provide basic frequencies and qualitative methods to assign meaning to session metadata and descriptions.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Conference sessions about autism or neurodiversity were limited, with very few specifically addressing the topic. However, with the exception of 2017, these offerings have steadily increased since 2015. Language used to describe these sessions varied, but sessions used the term \"neurodiversity\" or its derivatives with greater frequency in most recent conference years, indicating greater awareness and understanding of this concept. Finally, sessions largely moved away from deficit-based language.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>This is the first study to look at academic library conference sessions for autism references. It helps us to understand what information is being provided and what autism education academic librarians still need.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>This study only looked at sessions present","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"7 2","pages":"223-228"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038355/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144061175","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Positive Experiences in Postsecondary Education Among Autistic Youths in Hong Kong.","authors":"Gary Yu Hin Lam","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0108","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0108","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autistic students may encounter different challenges and barriers in postsecondary education, but many also experience growth and positive development. Little is known about the positive aspects of their postsecondary experience, especially in non-Western countries.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty autistic students from universities and colleges in Hong Kong participated in individual semi-structured interviews. We asked them to describe their positive experience in postsecondary education, including their enjoyment, memorable events, gains, and positive aspects. We analysed interview data using thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified four major themes that depicted autistic students' positive experience in postsecondary education. Autistic students described effective teaching strategies and arrangements that could facilitate their learning and made postsecondary education settings more preferred than secondary school. They found different supportive people in the right niches, including peers, educators, and family members. They also developed themselves through participating in activities and learning experiences offered in postsecondary education settings, where they also found like-minded people. They regarded accommodations as something good to have but not always useful, and their user experience and effectiveness varied.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>The findings highlight how autistic students can develop and thrive in postsecondary education. Recommendations are discussed for postsecondary institutions to create an accessible environment, provide enriching contexts, and support stakeholders to work with autistic students in ways that are conducive to their positive development. More research is needed to better understand how to support diverse autistic individuals in postsecondary institutions across different cultures.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Many autistic youths going into universities or colleges find postsecondary education challenging, but there are also successful cases who have positive experiences going through postsecondary education. We know very little about their positive and successful experiences.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>This study aimed to explore the positive aspects of educational experiences in postsecondary education in autistic youths in Hong Kong.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>We interviewed 30 autistic students studying in universities or colleges in Hong Kong about their experiences in postsecondary education. We specifically analyzed and highlighted the portion of interviews that described their positive experiences.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>We found several themes that can describe the positive experiences of autistic students in postsecondary education in Hong Kong. Autistic students preferred the flexible teaching practices and free institution environments, especially compared with secondary school. Peers, fami","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"7 2","pages":"201-211"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038334/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143997920","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Foreword: Special Issue on Autism and Postsecondary Education.","authors":"David B Nicholas, Brett Ranon Nachman","doi":"10.1089/aut.2025.0010","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2025.0010","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"7 2","pages":"125-126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038329/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144054620","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Longitudinal Relationships Between Depressive Attributional Style and Internalizing Symptoms in an Autism-Enriched Sample of Incoming College Students.","authors":"Sydney R Terroso, Erin E McKenney, Steven M Brunwasser, Jared K Richards, Talena C Day, Bella Kofner, Rachel G McDonald, Kristen Gillespie-Lynch, Erin Kang, Matthew D Lerner, Katherine O Gotham","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0090","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0090","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Anxiety and depression are among the most common psychiatric conditions reported in first-year college students. Autistic adults are estimated to face double the rate of anxiety and depression compared with non-autistic peers, influencing quality of life, social success, and academic performance. One potential avenue to understand and address internalizing symptoms in autistic adults beginning their college careers is depressive attributional style, a biased causal explanatory style in which negative life events are attributed to internal, stable, and global causes. The current study evaluates the relationship between depressive attributional style and symptoms of anxiety and depression across the first semester of college, as moderated by autistic traits. We also explore baseline depressive attributional style across additional marginalized aspects of identity based on race/ethnicity, gender, and sexual orientation, and examine potential interaction effects of autistic traits on these relationships.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Undergraduate students were recruited from four northeastern universities. Our sample (<i>n</i> = 144) includes 47 participants who self-identified or reported a formal autism diagnosis, and 97 non-autistic participants. Participants completed baseline and endpoint questionnaires, as well as a 2-minute biweekly survey, tracking changes in sadness, anhedonia, and anxiety throughout their first semester.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Longitudinal analyses demonstrate that elevated depressive attributional style at baseline predicted biweekly anxiety, sadness, and anhedonia symptoms across the semester. This pattern extended across (was not moderated by) levels of autistic traits, however, participants who reported higher autistic traits endorsed a significantly greater depressive attributional style at baseline, and greater anxiety, sadness, and anhedonia throughout the semester. The relationship between autistic traits and depressive attributional style was strongest for participants with a nonheterosexual orientation.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This study underscores the autistic community-identified need for mental health research, with attention to intersecting identities, and suggests depressive attributional style for further investigation as a potential treatment target.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>In the first year of college, many students face challenges with anxiety and depression. Autistic students report even higher mental health concerns than non-autistic students. One way to understand why this happens is by looking at how college students explain negative events in their lives. Autistic students may have a more depressive attributional style, in which they see themselves as a cause of negative events and believe that bad things will persist. This outlook is known to contribute to anxiety and depression.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>We wanted to see how a ","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"7 2","pages":"185-200"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038352/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144065415","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Autistic Students' Experiences of Employment and Employability Support while Studying at a UK University.","authors":"Clive Trusson, Cheryl Travers","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0112","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0112","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Studying at a university can provide students with better opportunities of employment. However, autistic people are more likely to be unemployed after graduating than their non-autistic peers. Many university programs include integral internships/placements that require students to engage with the world of work including recruitment and selection processes. While it is known that autistic people often face difficulties in workplace settings generally, this study sought to explore how autistic students at a high-ranking UK university experienced work and employment processes and settings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We collected the reflections of 12 autistic students, who had been engaging with work and employment processes and work organizational settings during their time as university students, via an in-depth qualitative survey comprising 25 questions. This provided data that, via analysis, offer a composite subjective voice for autistic people receiving disability support services provided by universities.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified four key themes. First, the reflections of these autistic students revealed a confident awareness of skills/talents that their autism enabled them to offer to employers. Second, the analysis revealed that the support offered by the university to provide employability support to autistic students was bureaucratically structured such that it might be experienced as unhelpfully fractured. Third, autistic students often felt that support while working away from the university campus (e.g., on an internship/placement) was somewhat deficient. Fourth, the data revealed that autistic students can clearly articulate the deficiencies of the support provided to them and how those deficiencies might be addressed to enhance their employability skills and, by extension, their opportunities for success in the labor market.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Autistic students would benefit from their universities adopting a more holistic approach to supporting them by engaging with (potential) employers and coworkers. Specifically, there is a need for university disability support workers to develop their knowledge and skills in careers and employability matters. They should aim to develop these to a level similar to that of university careers support workers. There is also a need for autistic students to be better supported while away from campus at a work placement.</p><p><strong>Abstract: </strong>Autistic people often face discrimination in the workplace. More autistic people are going to university and may study on a program that has a work internship built in, requiring them to compete in recruitment and selection processes that are known to be problematic for many autistic people. While universities offer support to autistic students, it is not well known how that support is experienced in relation to employability skills development and while working as an intern.</","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"7 2","pages":"212-222"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12038299/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144030059","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Elevated Suicidal Thoughts and Behaviors and Nonsuicidal Self-Injury in Autistic Youth and Adults: A Multinational Study.","authors":"Jessica M Schwartzman, Carly A McMorris, Claire M Brown, Julian N Trollor, Mirko Uljarević, Mark A Stokes, Zachary J Williams, Darren Hedley","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0225","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0225","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autistic people are at significant risk for suicidal thoughts and behaviors (STBs) and nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI). We examined STB and NSSI in different age-groups, considering sex- and age-based effects, in a pooled multinational sample of English-speaking autistic children and adults.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>We administered the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale to 245 autistic people without intellectual disability (139 youth and 106 adults; 46.1% female sex; <i>M</i> _age = 24.8, <i>SD</i> _age = 16.3 years, range = 7-70) or their caregivers in Australia, Canada, and the United States. The study samples were enriched with autistic people experiencing depression and suicidality.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Most participants (87.8%) reported suicidal ideation and NSSI (56.3%). Nearly one-third of autistic people (31.0%) reported a lifetime suicide attempt (<i>M</i> = 2.9 attempts; range = 1-26); overdosing was the most common method of suicide attempt. Sex was not a significant risk factor for suicidal ideation, behavior, or NSSI. Increases in lifetime suicidal ideation were observed across older age-groups, with those aged over 18 years reporting more severe and longer-lasting ideation than in children or adolescents. The youngest age of suicide attempt was 7 years in this sample, and the average ages of first/initial, most lethal, and most recent suicide attempts in youth (<i>n</i> = 24) and adults (<i>n</i> = 42) were 16.6, 19.2, and 20.8 years old, respectively.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Regardless of age-group, autistic people across the lifespan constitute a high-priority group for suicide prevention strategies, development of appropriate assessments, and evaluation of system-level programs that effectively address the problem of preventable death by suicide.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12380380/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144980630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A Cross-Neurotype Analysis of Camouflaging and Illness Perceptions in People with Central Sensitivity Syndromes.","authors":"Sarah Grant, Sam Norton, Rosa A Hoekstra","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0186","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0186","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Central sensitivity syndromes (CSS) are a group of conditions, including fibromyalgia, migraine, and others, that are thought to share a common mechanism of central sensitization-that is, pain and hypersensitivity that originate in the central nervous system. Research suggests that autistic adults may be more likely to have a CSS, and that autistic traits, sensory sensitivity and anxiety, all contribute to an association. This study aimed to explore whether autistic camouflaging could also be related to CSS symptoms in autistic and nonautistic adults. In addition, we completed an analysis of illness perceptions to determine whether autistic and nonautistic people may experience chronic illness differently.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;The sample comprised 504 adults (88 men, 416 women) with clinical diagnoses of autism, CSS, both diagnoses or neither (i.e., a comparison group), who completed online self-report validated questionnaires, including the Autism Spectrum Quotient, Central Sensitization Inventory, Sensory Perception Quotient, the Camouflaging Autistic Traits Questionnaire, the Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionaire-9, and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Camouflaging significantly predicted CSS symptoms in this sample. Autistic people with a CSS had higher camouflaging scores (mean: 130.28) than the other diagnostic groups, with a significant difference between the comparison and the CSS-only group (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 0.001). The autism-only and CSS-only groups had significantly higher camouflaging scores than the comparison group (&lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; &lt; 001) but not from each other (119.35 vs. 107.94). Autistic people reported a significantly more negative effect of chronic illness on their life (&lt;i&gt;f&lt;/i&gt; (1333) = 5.289 &lt;i&gt;p&lt;/i&gt; = 0.022); there were few other differences in illness perceptions between autistic and nonautistic people with a CSS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusion: &lt;/strong&gt;Autistic camouflaging is associated with CSS symptoms. Autistic people who receive a CSS diagnosis are particularly at risk for greater illness-related disability, including poorer quality of life and mental health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Community brief: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;b&gt;Why is this an important issue?:&lt;/b&gt; Lots of research has demonstrated that autistic adults are more vulnerable to poor physical health and chronic illness. Autistic people seem to be more likely to have central sensitivity syndromes (CSS). Conditions listed under the CSS umbrella include fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and migraine. These conditions are considered to share a common mechanism of \"central sensitization,\" in which the neural signals in a person's brain and spinal cord become amplified, causing several symptoms, including pain and sensory hypersensitivity, fatigue, and brain fog. We do not have a good understanding of why CSSs are common in autistic people, or what impact CSSs have on autistic people's live","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"8 4","pages":"646-663"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13315306/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148364132","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Guidelines for the Creation of Accessible Consent Materials and Procedures: Lessons from Research with Autistic People and People with Intellectual Disability.","authors":"Kelly B Beck, Kristen T MacKenziem, Anne V Kirby, Katherine McDonald, Ian Moura, Kaitlyn Breitenfeldt, Elizabeth Rutenberg, Tanvi Kumar, Juliet Mancino, Maya Sabatello, Shannon Roth, Christina Nicolaidis","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0263","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0263","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Informed, voluntary, ongoing consent is a central tenet of ethical research. However, consent processes are prone to exclusionary practices and inaccessibility. Consent materials are often too long and complex to foster understanding and ensure that people make truly informed decisions to participate in research. While this complexity is problematic for all people, these challenges are compounded for autistic people and people with intellectual disability. Consent materials and procedures rarely incorporate accommodations for processing and communication differences common in autism and intellectual disability. Failure to provide such accommodations ultimately threatens the conduct of ethical research. We describe lessons learned across multiple major U.S. research institutions that improved informed consent materials and procedures, with the goal of fostering responsible inclusion in research for autistic people and people with intellectual disability. We used these alternative materials and procedures in multiple research projects with samples of autistic people and people with intellectual disability. Each contributing team partnered with university human research participant protections personnel, accessibility experts, community members, and researchers to develop rigorous procedures for improving the readability and accessibility of informed consent materials. We present guidelines for designing consent materials and procedures and assert that participatory methods are vital to the success of ongoing accessibility initiatives. Adoption of understandable consent materials and accessible consent procedures can cultivate more equitable, respectful, and inclusive human research practices. Future work should expand on this work to design inclusive practices for populations with additional considerations.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-19","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12448064/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145115159","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"Shutdowns Are Like You're Stuck on the Blue Screen of Death\": A Metaphor Analysis of Autistic Shutdowns.","authors":"Katie Paris, Alexandru Zeph Lodestone, Melissa Houser, Laura Foran Lewis","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0193","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0193","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Autistic adults commonly experience shutdowns, which are distressing events widely discussed within Autistic communities. Yet, few studies to date have explored firsthand accounts of shutdown experiences. In this study, we aimed to identify figurative language that Autistic adults use to describe shutdowns, thereby broadening the understanding of and providing language for this complex phenomenon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;We used a participatory research approach to conduct a secondary analysis of qualitative data from two prior studies on shutdowns in Autistic adults. Primary studies used asynchronous interviews and a survey, with a total sample size of 86 participants. We analyzed a corpus of 87 typed pages using the Pragglejaz Group's metaphor identification procedure to identify figurative language that Autistic adults used to describe shutdowns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;Autistic adults in this sample used six metaphors to explain shutdowns, including the following: being frozen, a computer crash, going inside myself, when I can't keep up, survival mode, and playing a role.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Discussion: &lt;/strong&gt;These metaphors help to externalize the internal experience of shutdowns. Participants described shutdowns as a state of being stuck, often involving physical and/or vocal immobilization. They frequently described shutdowns as a response to perceived threats, connecting them to a sense of survival and self-protection. Metaphors provide a rich context for understanding and talking about shutdowns. Findings also highlight how Autistic adults organically construct metaphors to articulate their experiences. Future studies could use metaphor analysis to explore other affective experiences of Autistic individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Community brief: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;b&gt;Why is this an important issue?:&lt;/b&gt; Many Autistic people experience shutdowns, but there is not much research on what shutdowns feel like. Studies that have looked at shutdowns found they can be hard to explain, especially to people who have not had a shutdown before. People often describe shutdowns as feeling frozen or stuck. We need to better understand shutdowns from the perspectives of people who experience them.&lt;b&gt;What was the purpose of this study?:&lt;/b&gt; We wanted to understand how Autistic adults describe shutdowns. Metaphors can help explain an experience by comparing it with something else. Our goal was to find out what metaphors Autistic adults use to describe shutdowns and if those metaphors can help explain what a shutdown feels like.&lt;b&gt;What did the researchers do?:&lt;/b&gt; In two earlier studies, we asked 86 Autistic adults about their experiences with shutdowns. Some answered questions in interviews, while others filled out surveys. Using these data, we used a method called \"metaphor identification procedure,\" meaning we looked for words or phrases where participants used metaphors or other figurative language to compare their experience","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"8 4","pages":"687-697"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13315293/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148364188","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"Our Existence as Whole Individuals Does Not Evaporate at Age 50\": A Mixed Methods Study of Autistic Adults' Perspectives on Growing Older.","authors":"Kelly Birtwell, Donna Bramwell, Emma Gowen, Laura J E Brown, Lucy Hulme, Emily Corsellis, Christine Rowland","doi":"10.1089/aut.2024.0028","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2024.0028","url":null,"abstract":"&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Background: &lt;/strong&gt;Older autistic adults are at risk of social isolation and are more likely to experience physical and mental health conditions compared with non-autistic older adults. However, the needs and experiences of older autistic adults, and the perspectives of autistic adults (across ages) about growing older, are an under-researched area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Methods: &lt;/strong&gt;We conducted a mixed methods online survey to explore factors that may help autistic people to do well in older age, what worries people about older age, changes in experiences of being autistic with age, and priorities for future research. We recruited 121 autistic adults aged 18-88 from the United Kingdom, mainly via social media. We employed quantitative and qualitative data analysis methods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Results: &lt;/strong&gt;We generated three categories from participants' free-text responses: (1) health, care, and wider societal support; (2) independence and autonomy; and (3) social connectedness. Qualitative findings supported the quantitative findings that maintaining physical and mental health, independence and autonomy, and social relationships were considered important. Participants worried about a lack of appropriate support from health and care staff, age-related health conditions such as dementia and menopause, and not having intersectional needs understood or met. Some participants reported their experience of being autistic became easier with age, and others found it more difficult. Participants suggested future research could include health and care staff and services (including care homes), health conditions (e.g., dementia), autistic-specific needs and concerns (e.g., changes in sensory sensitivities with age), social life and support, and independent living.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Conclusions: &lt;/strong&gt;This study highlights supportive factors and concerns in relation to autistic aging. Our findings support recent research and highlight underexplored areas such as care home experiences, dementia, menopause, and LGBTQIA+ aging needs. Findings will help to inform health and care provision as well as directing future research in line with the priorities of the autistic community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;Community brief: &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;b&gt;Why is this an important issue?:&lt;/b&gt; We know that social support and relationships contribute to better quality of life in older autistic adults. However, we do not know enough about the experiences of older autistic adults, what might help autistic people to do well in older age, and what worries autistic people about growing older.&lt;b&gt;What was the purpose of this study?:&lt;/b&gt; To understand the experiences and support needs of autistic people as they age and identify priorities for future research about aging.&lt;b&gt;What did the researchers do?:&lt;/b&gt; We worked with autistic individuals to create an online survey about growing older. The survey asked participants to rate (between 1 and 5) certain aspects of aging and asked participants \"open-","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"8 2","pages":"211-232"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-02-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13294724/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148347474","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}