Navigating the Transition to Adulthood: Insights from Caregivers of Autistic Individuals.
Samara M Wolpe, Amanda R Johnson, Sunny Kim
PMID 38141096WHAT IT FOUND
Nine of ten caregivers of autistic adults said services stopped after high school.
They described hunting for adult supports, confusing Regional Center information, long waits, and programs that ignored their child's interests, leaving families exhausted.
Key findings
01Nine of ten caregivers reported that services stopped after their child graduated high school.
02Caregivers said adult services were hard to find, hard to access, and often not matched to the person's interests or support needs.
03Other parents, not agencies, were described as the most trusted source of practical transition information.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
Only 10 caregivers were interviewed, so their experiences cannot represent all families of autistic adults. Participants were recruited by convenience and personal networks, and were mostly white, all women, and living in California, so the findings are tied to that sample and state's service system. The autistic adults themselves were not interviewed, so the paper reports caregiver views rather than the adults' own experiences.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that a specific transition program works or fails. They describe what caregivers said about services, and the autistic adults themselves were not interviewed.