Services for Adults with an Autism Spectrum Disorder
Open accessAbstract
The need for useful evidence about services is increasing as larger numbers of children identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) age toward adulthood. The objective of this review was to characterize the topical and methodological aspects of research on services for supporting success in work, education, and social participation among adults with an ASD and to propose recommendations for moving this area of research forward. We reviewed the literature published in English from 2000 to 2010 and found that the evidence base about services for adults with an ASD is underdeveloped and can be considered a field of inquiry that is relatively unformed. Extant research does not reflect the demographic or impairment heterogeneity of the population, the range of services that adults with autism require to function with purposeful lives in the community, and the need for coordination across service systems and sectors. Future studies must examine issues related to cost and efficiency, given the broader sociopolitical and economic context of service provision. Further, future research needs to consider how demographic and impairment heterogeneity have implications for building an evidence base that will have greater external validity.
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- Authors
- Shattuck, P. T., Roux, A. M., Hudson, L. E., Taylor, J. L., Maenner, M. J., & Trani, J.-F.
- Affiliations
- Washington University in St. Louis (US)
- Vanderbilt University (US)
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Corresponding author
- Shattuck, Paul T
- Venue
- The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-05
- Volume
- 57
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 284-291
- ISSN
- 0706-7437 (ISSN-L)
- 1497-0015
- PMC
- PMC3538849
- OpenAlex
- W1950929781
- Cited by
- 289
- References
- 54
- Citations by year
- 2026: 6 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 17 · 2021: 26 · 2020: 26 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 29 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 23 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 6
- FWCI
- 1.47
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Open Scholarship Institutional Repository (Washington University in St. Louis) (submittedVersion)
- UCL Discovery (University College London) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (7r01mh086489-06)
- National Institute of Mental Health (R01 MH086489).)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
- Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Education and Employment
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Family and Disability Support Research
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, autistic adults, service delivery, employment, social participation (health and rehabilitation), evidence base, service coordination, demographic heterogeneity, generalizability
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Child, Child Development Disorders, Pervasive, Education, Employment, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Research, Social Participation
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