Adapting the PEERS® for Young Adults Program for Autistic Adults across the Lifespan

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Harker, S. A., Baxter, L., Gallegos, S. M., Mitchell, M., Zerga, L., Matthews, N., & Braden, B. B. (2024). Adapting the PEERS® for Young Adults Program for Autistic Adults across the Lifespan. Healthcare, 12(16), 1586. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12161586

Publication date: 9 Aug 2024 Added to AutiHub: 7 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
7
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 7 (28.6%)
  1. Samantha A. Harker *
  2. Leslie Baxter
  3. Stephen M. Gallegos *
  4. Melissa Mitchell
  1. Lillian Zerga
  2. Nicole Matthews
  3. B. Blair Braden

Abstract

The Program for the Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®) is an evidence-based intervention developed for autistic individuals to support social communication, peer interactions, independence, and interpersonal relationships. Despite a demonstrated effectiveness for young autistic individuals in the US and several other countries, PEERS has yet to be modified to support the needs of autistic adults across the lifespan. The present study describes how our team sought autistic voices to adapt PEERS for adults of any age. Specifically, we aimed to address the needs of middle-aged and older adults and adapt the curriculum to be more neurodiversity-affirming. Between two cohorts that completed the program consecutively, we evaluated the acceptability of the adapted PEERS program and made refinements based on feedback from autistic participants and their study partners. Results indicated that Cohort 2 reported higher satisfaction with the PEERS components and overall program than Cohort 1, suggesting effective refinement. We present a framework of adaptations that more specifically address the needs of middle-aged and older adults in a neurodiverse-affirming way compared to previous iterations. Our approach to implementing an adapted PEERS curriculum across the adult lifespan may serve as a model for improved clinical care and cultivate the acceptance of neurodiversity in the interpersonal domains of autistic adults’ lives.

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
32
With a DOI
30
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
2
7 / 32 (21.9%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 32 (6.2%)
References with detected author names
30 / 32 (93.8%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
2
References with raw author names still to review
2
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
129
From DOI or external metadata
129
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
64 / 129 (49.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 65 / 129 (50.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
10 / 129 (7.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 10 / 64 (15.6%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 9 / 109 (8.3%).
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