Outcomes in adolescents and adults with autism

Since Kanner's first account of children with autism, there has been extensive research into the presentation of and interventions for Autistic Disorder. However, only a small proportion of this literature has focused on the progress of individuals with autism as they move from childhood and adolescence into adulthood. The majority of these studies have focused on high-functioning individuals. This study addresses these limitations in the literature. The following is a study on the outcomes of 23 high needs individuals with autism, aged 12 to 37 years, who were clients of an Ontario intervention program. The study is divided into three papers. The first paper is a critical review of the current empirical studies that have addressed prognosis in this population in terms of diagnostic severity, cognitive functioning, language, academic performance and social outcomes. The overall pattern of change is considered and factors that appear to influence or predict outcome in adulthood are reviewed. Limitations in this pool of literature and recommendations for future studies are discussed. The second paper examines the level of functioning of participants at follow-up assessment. In addition, the trajectory of development is examined for each participant by evaluating the individual's progress from intake into services to follow-up. The study also creates sensitive outcome categories for lower functioning individuals based on the results of the follow-up assessments. These categories are used to describe the developmental, psychopathology and social outcome of participants. The study also examines whether childhood variables such as autism severity, level of functional communication and social engagement can predict the participants' psychopathology and social outcome category at follow-up. The final paper is an in-depth case study of an individual in each of these outcome categories. A description of this individual's progress from initial diagnosis, intake into services and discharge from services to follow-up is provided. The results of these studies highlight that there is a great deal of variability in outcome in these individuals. This area of research is essential to understand how these individuals are functioning and the level of services and supports they require.