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Micai M, Fulceri F, Salvitti T, Romano G, Poustka L, Diehm R, Iskrov G, Stefanov R, Guillon Q, Rogé B, Staines A, Sweeney MR, Boilson AM, Leósdóttir T, Saemundsen E, Moilanen I, Ebeling H, Yliherva A, Gissler M, Parviainen T, Tani P, Kawa R, Pisula E, Vicente A, Rasga C, Budişteanu M, Dale I, Povey C, Flores N, Jenaro C, Monroy ML, Primo PG, Charman T, Cramer S, Warberg CK, Canal-Bedia R, Posada M, Schendel D, Scattoni ML. Autistic Adult Services Availability, Preferences, and User Experiences: Results From the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union Survey. Front Psychiatry 2022; 13:919234. [PMID: 35757227 PMCID: PMC9226363 DOI: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.919234] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/13/2022] [Accepted: 05/23/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
There is very little knowledge regarding autistic adult services, practices, and delivery. The study objective was to improve understanding of current services and practices for autistic adults and opportunities for improvement as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union (ASDEU) project. Separate survey versions were created for autistic adults, carers of autistic adults, and professionals in adult services. 2,009 persons responded to the survey and 1,085 (54%) of them completed at least one of the services sections: 469 autistic adults (65% female; 55% <35 years old), 441 carers of autistic adults (27% female; 6% <35 years old), 175 professionals in adult services (76% female; 67% in non-medical services). Top choices by autistic adults, carers or professionals for services best suiting their current needs were: residential services: "help in own home" (adults, carers of high independent adults, professionals), "fulltime residential facility" (carers of low independent adults); employment services: "job mentors" (adults, carers of high independent adults, professionals), "Sheltered employment" (carers of low independent adults); education services: "support in regular education setting" (all groups); financial services: financial support in lieu of employment ("Supplementary income for persons unable to have full employment" for adults, "full pension" for carers of low independent adults) or to supplement employment earnings for carers of high independent adults and professionals; social services: "behavior training" (adults) and "life skills training" (carers and professionals). Waiting times for specific services were generally < 1 month or 1-3 months, except for residential services which could be up to 6 months; most professionals were uninformed of waiting times (>50% responded "don't know"). Five of seven residential services features recommended for autistic adults were experienced by <50% of adults. The knowledge of good local services models that work well for autistic adults was generally low across all services areas. The variation in services experiences and perceptions reported by autistic adults, carers, or professionals underscore the need to query all groups for a complete picture of community services availability and needs. The results showed areas for potential improvement in autistic adult services delivery in the EU to achieve recommended standards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Martina Micai
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Research Coordination and Support Service, Rome, Italy
| | - Francesca Fulceri
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Research Coordination and Support Service, Rome, Italy
| | - Tommaso Salvitti
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Research Coordination and Support Service, Rome, Italy
| | - Giovanna Romano
- Directorate General of Health Prevention, Ministry of Health, Rome, Italy
| | - Luise Poustka
- University Medical Center Göttingen, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Göttingen, Germany
| | - Robert Diehm
- Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
| | - Georgi Iskrov
- Institute for Rare Diseases, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.,Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | - Rumen Stefanov
- Institute for Rare Diseases, Plovdiv, Bulgaria.,Department of Social Medicine and Public Health, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University of Plovdiv, Plovdiv, Bulgaria
| | | | | | - Anthony Staines
- School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Mary Rose Sweeney
- School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | - Andrew Martin Boilson
- School of Nursing, Psychotherapy and Community Health, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
| | | | | | - Irma Moilanen
- Clinic of Child Psychiatry, University Hospital of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Oulu University Hospital, Medical Faculty, Oulu, Finland
| | - Hanna Ebeling
- Clinic of Child Psychiatry, University Hospital of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Oulu University Hospital, Medical Faculty, Oulu, Finland
| | - Anneli Yliherva
- Clinic of Child Psychiatry, University Hospital of Oulu, Oulu, Finland.,Logopedic Child Language Research Center, University of Oulu, Oulu, Finland
| | - Mika Gissler
- Department of Knowledge Brokers, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland.,Research Centre for Child Psychiatry, University of Turku, Turku, Finland.,Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery and Region Stockholm, Academic Primary Health Care Centre, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Tarja Parviainen
- Finnish Association for Autism and Asperger's Syndrome, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Pekka Tani
- Department of Psychiatry, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Rafal Kawa
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Eva Pisula
- Faculty of Psychology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland
| | - Astrid Vicente
- Center for Biodiversity, Functional and Integrative Genomics, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Célia Rasga
- Center for Biodiversity, Functional and Integrative Genomics, Instituto Nacional de Saúde Doutor Ricardo Jorge, Lisbon, Portugal
| | - Magdalena Budişteanu
- "Victor Babeş" National Institute for Research and Development in Pathology and Biomedical Sciences, Bucharest, Romania
| | - Ian Dale
- National Autistic Society, The Centre for Autism, London, United Kingdom
| | - Carol Povey
- National Autistic Society, The Centre for Autism, London, United Kingdom
| | - Noelia Flores
- Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos Salamanca, Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Cristina Jenaro
- Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos Salamanca, Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Maria Luisa Monroy
- Departamento de Psicología Evolutiva y de la Educación, Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | | | - Tony Charman
- King's College London, Institute of Psychiatry, London, United Kingdom
| | - Susanne Cramer
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | | | - Ricardo Canal-Bedia
- Departamento de Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamiento Psicológicos Salamanca, Instituto Universitario de Integración en la Comunidad, University of Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain
| | - Manuel Posada
- Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Institute of Rare Diseases Research, Madrid, Spain
| | - Diana Schendel
- Department of Public Health, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.,Lundbeck Foundation Initiative for Integrative Psychiatric Research, Aarhus, Denmark.,Department of Economics and Business, National Centre for Register-Based Research, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark
| | - Maria Luisa Scattoni
- Istituto Superiore di Sanità, Research Coordination and Support Service, Rome, Italy
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