Autism prevalence and outcomes in older adults

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Robison, J. E. (2019). Autism prevalence and outcomes in older adults. Autism Research, 12(3), 370-374. https://doi.org/10.1002/aur.2080

Publication date: 25 Feb 2019 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. John Elder Robison *

Abstract

Recent studies of mortality, illness, and suicide among autistic adults paint an alarming picture. Autistic people appear to die much earlier than the general population, and they seem to be far more vulnerable to a surprising range of medical problems. Suicide and depression seem far more common than in the general population. If correct, that suggests an older autistic population in silent crisis, with few if any supports. If so, older autistic people should be a focus for public health and human service agencies. But is the picture complete? Autism researchers ask for answers, identifying problems and their scope. This article discusses the limitations of our adult autism knowledge, and the challenges we will face studying adults. Researching and ultimately serving older autistic adults presents a unique set of problems that have not yet been addressed by scientists or clinicians. Autism Res 2019, 12: 370-374 © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. LAY SUMMARY: Public policy toward autistic people is driven by data. Most autism data to date have been derived from and about children, because autism tends to be identified and supported in the public school system. This has created a public perception of autism as a childhood problem. In fact, autism is a lifelong difference or disability, and recent studies suggest serious overlooked concerns for autistic adults. This commentary discusses how we have evaluated adult autism so far, limitations of our knowledge, and how we might evaluate adult needs going forward. The commentary makes a case for specific new adult prevalence and outcome studies to inform public policy.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 13:58.

Cited references
17
With a DOI
7
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
10
0 / 17 (0.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
9 / 17 (52.9%)
References with detected author names
8 / 17 (47.1%)
Without detected author names
9
Without a structured title
9
Without a stable identifier
10
References with raw author names still to review
9
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
69
From DOI or external metadata
69
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
9
15 / 69 (21.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 54 / 69 (78.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
0 / 69 (0.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 0 / 15 (0.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 0 / 69 (0.0%).
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
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