Young adults with autism spectrum disorder are an underserved population. Evidence-based guidelines for physical activity programs to address the lifelong needs of this population are presently unavailable. Our systematic review critically appraises the research to date on the effects of physical activity/exercise-based interventions on physical…

Language in autism is heterogeneous, with a significant proportion of individuals having structural language difficulties and inclusion of language impairment as a specifier under "Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" (5th ed.) criteria for autism. This systematic review asked: What are the reporting patterns of…

Parents of individuals with autism face many challenges in accessing appropriate services and supports for their offspring. Parents also play vital roles in advocating for their offspring's rights and needs. Furthermore, despite advocacy programs becoming increasingly common, it remains unclear how to best foster advocacy among parents of…

Many autistic youth have complex healthcare needs, resulting in high rates of health service utilization. However, many characteristics of this health service utilization remain unknown. Using whole-of-population data, this study aimed to quantify and compare rates of psychiatric and non-psychiatric health service utilization among autistic and…

To better understand the associations between social activities and depressive symptoms in adolescents and young adults with autism spectrum disorder, this study utilized interpersonal theories of depression by accounting for both frequency of various social activities and perceptions of how well their time spent in these activities meet their…

Autistic people often experience difficulties navigating face-to-face social interactions. Historically, the empirical literature has characterised these difficulties as cognitive 'deficits' in social information processing. However, the empirical basis for such claims is lacking, with most studies failing to capture the complexity of social…

Obtaining and maintaining employment can be a challenge for autistic adults and learning challenges may be related to vocational outcomes in this population. The present study sought to evaluate the Learning Needs Screening Tool to identify autistic job seekers who may benefit from additional services to obtain employment. A total of 401 autistic…

There are an increasing number of autistic characters seen in film and television, and an increasing number of autistic individuals entering the workforce. At the intersection of media and employment, only a small proportion of autistic characters are played by autistic actors. This study examines the experiences of professional autistic actors…

Autism spectrum disorder is a developmental disability affecting individuals across their entire lifespan. Autistic individuals have differences from nonautistic people (sometimes called allistic or neurotypical people) in social skills, communication, and atypical interests and/or repetitive behaviors. Approximately 1 in 59 children are born…

This study investigated the benefits and challenges of computer-mediated communication use among a sample of young adults who identify with the autism spectrum via semistructured interviews. The interviews revealed that participants enjoyed using computer-mediated communication technologies (e.g. Discord, Facebook, Steam, and Zoom) to fulfill…

Supported employment initiatives have been shown to increase employment rates for autistic people who want to enter the workforce. Despite the success of supported employment initiatives in increasing employment rates, little is known about the first-hand experiences and views of those involved. In the current study, we examined the experiences…

In this secondary systematic review of single-case and controlled group design intervention studies conducted with transition-age autistic youth, we examined features of 48 studies with 273 participants that measured at least one "problem behavior" outcome (Prospero registration number: 231764). We searched 11 databases for relevant…

Autistic adolescents and emerging adults experience high rates of mental health conditions--a risk factor for hospitalization. Using nationally representative data from the 2016 HCUP KID, we estimated the prevalence and costs of mental health-related hospitalizations for autistic adolescents and emerging adults in the United States. Hospital…

Several studies report on lower quality of life for autistic people when compared to non-autistic people. However, there are ongoing discussions about the conceptualization of quality of life for the autistic population. This qualitative study investigated self-perceived quality of life in the context of autistic young adults' everyday lives.…

Despite emerging awareness of gender diversity in the autistic population, our understanding of autism remains limited to cisgender boys and men. We conducted a scoping review to better understand how structural language skills (i.e. syntax, semantics, narrative) differ across sex/gender within autism, and how gender diversity is incorporated in…