Outcomes in adults with autism spectrum disorders: a historical perspective

“The Emerging Adulthood Theory (Arnett, 2000) posits that the transition period between adolescence and adulthood is characterized by identity exploration and individualism.”

“The rest of the studies in this category assessed overall outcomes with variations of the OOR scale (Eaves and Ho, 2008; Howlin et al., 2004).”

“In contrast to the traditional developmental tasks perspective, ‘emerging adults’ were more likely to say that being responsible for oneself, establishing a personal value system, relating to parents as adults, and becoming financially independent were markers of becoming an adult (Arnett, 2001).”

“These two scales, as in Billstedt et al. (2005), were more specific than Rutter et al.’s criteria, but still required some subjective interpretation. For example, on the Present Language Developmental Level (PLDL) scale they defined very good as being able to ‘communicate freely with a rich vocabulary’ and on the Pres…”

“Eaves and Ho (2008) assigned outcome categories to a sample of 48 young adults with ASDs in British Columbia.”

“These category definitions are inherently vague, and only one study to our knowledge has reported on the reliability of this index (Lotter, 1974). Rutter et al.’s phrases ‘normal or near-normal social life’ and ‘potential for social progress’ require a great deal of investigator interpretation. However, Rutter et al.’…”

“Twenty-eight years later, Kanner (1971) gave a follow-up account of each of those 11 individuals.”

“Farley et al. (2009) conducted a follow-up with 41 adults with autism who had an IQ of 70 or greater to see if outcomes would be better for individuals with average or near-average cognitive abilities.”

“Although some researchers had written descriptive accounts of adults with autism, Rutter et al. (1967) were the first to explicitly define criteria for adult outcomes, using the labels good, fair, poor, and very poor.”

“Similar to Lotter et al.’s (1974) and Rutter et al.’s (1967) findings, Gillberg and Steffenburg (1987) found 59% to have a poor or very poor outcome and 43% living in an institution.”

“’s criteria found slightly more optimistic results in overall social functioning (Engstrom et al., 2003; Larsen and Mouridsen, 1997). Larsen and Mouridsen (1997) found that just under half (44%) of their sample had poor or very poor outcomes, and 22% were employed. The sample consisted of 18 individuals originally dia…”

“As individuals with ASD from lower-income families are likely to have less access to services (Shattuck et al., 2011), including these groups would potentially result in poorer outcomes than what is typically reported (Shattuck et al., in press; Taylor and Seltzer, 2010).”

“As individuals with ASD from lower-income families are likely to have less access to services (Shattuck et al., 2011), including these groups would potentially result in poorer outcomes than what is typically reported (Shattuck et al., in press; Taylor and Seltzer, 2010).”

“However, with changing economic and social conditions, these achievements are no longer the norm in the general population of young adults (Furstenberg et al., 2005).”

“Along these lines, Billstedt et al. (2011) reevaluated the sample from their 2005 study, adding measures of the relationship between the person and his/her environment.”

“, Psycinfo) to identify studies on adult outcomes for individuals with ASD; and (2) we conducted backwards citation searches of recent reviews focused on outcomes of adults with ASD (Gillespie-Lynch et al., 2011; Howlin, 2005; Howlin and Moss, in press; Taylor, 2009) (see Table 1 for a summary of included studies).”

“For example, advancements in early intervention therapies may result in more positive outcomes in adulthood (Ballaban-Gil et al., 1996).”

“, Psycinfo) to identify studies on adult outcomes for individuals with ASD; and (2) we conducted backwards citation searches of recent reviews focused on outcomes of adults with ASD (Gillespie-Lynch et al., 2011; Howlin, 2005; Howlin and Moss, in press; Taylor, 2009) (see Table 1 for a summary of included studies).”

“The authors attributed their high employment percentages to a high demand for labor in Japan’s thriving economy, rather than study differences such as a broader definition of employment (Kobayashi et al., 1992).”

“With objective (3), for example, Halpern (1993) suggested that it is important not only to meet societal norms and expectations of adulthood, but also for the individual and his or her family to feel that personal needs and goals have been achieved.”

“Criteria like the OOR scales reflect a focus in the sociological literature on the achievement of certain ‘developmental tasks’ as criteria for success in adulthood (Fussell and Furstenberg, 2005).”

“Esbensen et al. (2010) examined a sample of 70 adults with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability, finding that 61% fell into the two lowest independence categories (comparable to the poor and very poor OOR categories).”

“Esbensen et al. (2010) examined a sample of 70 adults with ASD and comorbid intellectual disability, finding that 61% fell into the two lowest independence categories (comparable to the poor and very poor OOR categories).”

“As in Larsen and Mouridsen (1997), the cognitive functioning of this group is not representative of all of those diagnosed with ASD.”

“One such suggestion is for the addition of a broader and more dynamic framework in measuring outcome success, which takes into account the fit between the person and his or her environment (Ruble and Dalrymple, 1996).”

“These category definitions are inherently vague, and only one study to our knowledge has reported on the reliability of this index (Lotter, 1974).”

“, Psycinfo) to identify studies on adult outcomes for individuals with ASD; and (2) we conducted backwards citation searches of recent reviews focused on outcomes of adults with ASD (Gillespie-Lynch et al., 2011; Howlin, 2005; Howlin and Moss, in press; Taylor, 2009) (see Table 1 for a summary of included studies).”

“Recent studies have begun to explore predictors of outcome and the current needs of adolescents and adults with ASD (e.g., Farley et al. 2009; Howlin et al. 2013; see Henninger and Taylor 2013 for review).”

“The adequacy of outcomes in adulthood should ideally take into account the gap between a given outcome and the preferences and goals of the individual (Henninger and Taylor 2013).”