Autism Effects On Young Adults

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In the News (Adolescence): How autism can make the teenage years even tougher
Leslie Hill
Southern Methodist University The research surrounding Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) primarily has focused on the effects on young children and not on the effects on teenagers and young adults. Deakin University in Melbourne Australia is working with teenagers to discover how ASD can amplify the pressures of adolescence. Teenagers with ASD can need additional accommodation and a teenager in the article, Jack, eloquently states, “I just wasn’t born with the appropriate social skills.” (Kermond, 2016). Adolescents with ASD are more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety, and these disorders can transition with the individual into adulthood. …show more content…

This stage allows individuals to think more abstractly (Erford & Vernon, 2016) and begin to use meta-cognition. With these newly acquired characteristics, individuals can understand more human nuances and think beyond a single dimension. The way information is processed also begins to evolve both functionally and structurally. Both of these changes impact the ability to learn, remember, and process information to make decisions or problem solve. David Elkind’s three concepts: the invincibility fable, personal fable, and the imaginary audience (p. 264) illustrate how adolescents do not think of themselves as a part of a whole, but an individual where their experience is wholly unique to their peers. Emotionally, adolescents are developing a grasp of understanding other’s emotions and thoughts and are also slowly maturing their emotional stability. Vivian Seltzer’s frameworklessness model explains the inner turmoil an adolescent faces. They are trapped between the familiarity of childhood and the unfamiliarity of adolescence (p. 278). In order to survive, they adopt a process called attribute substitution. They imitate behaviors and characteristics seen in others (p. 278). Autistic children do not have innate skills to adapt to their new stage. The difficulties they experience with social interaction and information processing, sets them on a different pathway than their peers. Peer relationships are an integral component of this stage and lacking the ability to connect with others at this age, does not provide them with socialization skills that will benefit them in their later life

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