Dr. Gregory Wallace discusses examples of emerging evidence for "risk" for suboptimal outcomes for autistic people as they age related to Parkinsonism and cognitive decline. He also discusses examples of "resilience" to suboptimal outcomes in autistic adults including compensatory approaches to address challenges in executive function.
Dr. Gregory Wallace discusses the current state of research regarding middle and older adulthood in autistic adults. Given the current knowledge about health outcomes and links to Parkinsonism, Dr. Wallace and colleagues collected self-report data from autistic individuals. Main findings include: Parkinsonism is fairly common in autistic adults in middle to later adulthood and motor symptoms are associated with overall poorer quality of life, mixed results concerning physical brain and cognitive changes in ASD adults, and that quality of life is linked to social support in middle- and older- aged autistic adults.
