Promoting Healthy Development for Youth with Autism Spectrum Disorder during Key Transitions: A Life Course Perspective

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has garnered a great deal of attention from the popular media in recent years, but social work has not yet taken a leadership role in research focused on the myriad of issue that individuals with ASD encounter throughout life. ASD is a lifespan condition that categorically alters the course of development for all youth with ASD and affects many individuals’ ability to contribute to their full potential in their schools, workplaces, and communities.

While youth with ASD are at risk for delayed development in a number of domains – including communication, social relationships, and adaptive functioning, among others – throughout life, youth with ASD seem to be at greater risk for disruptions in the course of their development during specific transition points. These disruptions are most likely during key developmental periods: from early childhood to childhood; from childhood to adolescence; from adolescence to adulthood; and from adulthood to old age. Notably, these periods involve developmental changes that may alter the presentation and consequences of disability andsubstantive changes in the way in which services are accessed and to whom they are available. For instance, the transition from adolescence to adulthood for youth with ASD is characterized by a service cliff where individuals are jettisoned from the special education system to fend for services on their own with access to few providers, policies, and treatments. Many individuals with ASD additionally experience a deceleration in improvement of symptoms and skills during this period.

The social work profession must advance the policies, programs, and services needed to promote healthy development among youth with ASD throughout the life course during these key transitions.

This roundtable will bring together a panel of social work experts on ASD to begin a dialogue about the role of social work research in developing policies and programs that support individuals with ASD during these key transition periods. Presenters will focus particular attention on issues that substantively impact healthy development for people with ASD from early childhood to old age. First, a presenter will focus on parental stress and its role in family health and well-being during key transition points in early childhood and childhood among families of color who have a child with ASD. Second, a presenter will discuss identifying and reducing racial and ethnic disparities among children with ASD to promote the successful transition to adulthood. Third, a presenter will discuss interventions that can help to improve social cognitive and affective learning to aid in the transition from school to work. Fourth, a presenter will talk about family support interventions during adolescent and adult transitions. Finally, a presenter will discuss new findings from the first study of morbidity and mortality in decedents with ASD in the United States. Our goal is to stimulate a conversation that will spur interest and action in the field to ensure healthy development for all youth with ASD, with the goal of generating a position piece on promoting healthy development in individuals with ASD for a social work audience.