Background:

Outcomes for transition age youth on the autism spectrum are poor across multiple domains including work, postsecondary education access, social inclusion, health and mental health. About 50,000 to 60,000 youth on the autism spectrum turn 18 years old each year. It is imperative to understand the needs of these youth so that we may develop and implement appropriate policies and practices to support a positive transition to adulthood. According to a 2014 article in JAMA, the national costs of helping U.S. children and adults with autism add up to over $200 Billion per year. Despite large investments in research and services for children with autism, young adult health and functional outcomes remain poor on average.

Proposed Studies:

我们

For this project, we defined transition-age youth broadly as 14-29 to capture transition processes, the outcomes of transition as youth emerge into adulthood, and the factors that influenced these outcomes. However, within several of our specific articles, age ranges may vary as we will have to make use of the ages available in any given dataset.

This project is being supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) under UJ2MC31073: Maternal and Child Health-Autism Transitions Research Project. This information or content and conclusions are those of the author and should not be construed as the official position or policy of, nor should any endorsements be inferred by HRSA, HHS or the U.S. Government.