Social and community inclusion outcomes for adults with autism with and without intellectual disability in Australia.
L A Cameron, B J Tonge, P Howlin and 3 others
PMID 35677963WHAT IT FOUND
Most adults with autism in this Australian cohort had poor or very poor overall outcomes, especially those with intellectual disability.
Many lived with family or in supported accommodation, attended day programmes, and had limited peer relationships.
Key findings
01At Time 6, 58% (n = 48) had a Poor or Very Poor overall outcome, while less than 20% (n = 16) had a Very Good outcome. Adults with intellectual disability were more likely to have Poor or Very Poor outcomes (80%, n = 45).
02Only 19% (n = 16) lived independently; 39% (n = 33) lived in supported group accommodation, and 56% (n = 47) attended organised day programmes.
03Parent/carer report showed 53% (n = 40) had no peer relationships, while 86% (n = 24) of the self-report subgroup said they had friends.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The participants were recruited as children and adolescents in the early 1990s, so their outcomes may not represent adults diagnosed today. The sample fell from 119 at Time 1 to 84 at Time 6, although there was no significant difference in degree of intellectual disability between participants and non-participants. One participant could not receive an overall outcome rating because they were in prison, so the overall outcome analysis used 83 participants. Friendship was mainly parent/carer report, and only 28 participants completed the self-report loneliness questionnaire; most of those self-reporters did not have intellectual disability. The study describes outcomes and comparisons; it does not test whether any therapy or service improves them.
Declared interests
The study was supported by the Australian Research Council grant DP150104369. Lauren A. Cameron was supported by an Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that adults with autism without intellectual disability have good community inclusion. Although 74% of them had a Very Good or Good overall outcome, only 19% of the whole sample lived independently, and 26% were employed in the mainstream workforce.