Autism continued adulthood and ageing

Transcription

1 Autism continued adulthood and ageing Registration Friday 26 th February 2016 Senate Room, Main Building, University of Glasgow Katie Cebula & Sue Fletcher-Watson: University of Edinburgh Outcomes from the SARG seminar 2015 and plans for the future Stuart Ritchie: University of Edinburgh Insights into cognitive and brain ageing from the Lothian Birth Cohort Coffee break Research in a Flash Talks: Kabie Brook: Learning about Menopause through the shared experience of autistic people Asaad Baksh: The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT): A Novel Way of Measuring Social Cognitive Functioning Ewelina Rydzewska: The health of Scotland s 14,364 adults with autism Kirsty Ainsworth: Modelling facial expressions of emotion in adults with autism spectrum disorders Jill Ferguson, Val Laurie: Scottish Autism Peaceful, pain free and dignified: palliative and end of life care for people on the autism spectrum Lunch Amanda Roestorf: City University, London Growing Older with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Cognitive Functioning Across the Lifespan Comfort break Pat Howlin: King s College London Can we improve outcomes for adults with autism? David Simmons: University of Glasgow Discussant End

2 Information for Participants Funding This seminar has been possible thanks to the generosity of the following funders: - Scottish Autism - The Patrick Wild Centre, University of Edinburgh - The School of Psychology, University of Glasgow - The University of Glasgow Photography/Filming Portions of this seminar may be photographed/filmed for wider dissemination (e.g. via SARG website). Please contact a member of the organising committee for further details if required. SARG Organising Committee, : Bonnie Auyeung, Katie Cebula, Sue Fletcher-Watson & Evelyn McGregor University of Edinburgh María Núñez Glasgow Caledonian University Juan Carlos Gómez University of St Andrews David Simmons & Paula Regener University of Glasgow Mailing List If you haven t already done so, please join our mailing list at:

3 KEYNOTE Pat Howlin: King s College London Can we improve outcomes for adults with autism? Abstracts Despite over seven decades of research in autism, studies with a focus on adulthood remain limited. There is little systematic research on trajectories of development from child to adulthood or on factors that may influence long-term prognosis (Magiati, et al., 2014*). Data from our follow-up study of individuals with autism who have been followed up over four decades indicate that, in the majority of cases, IQ remained generally stable and severity of autism symptoms declined over time. However, a minority of individuals showed an apparent decline in cognitive ability, often related to severe behavioural disturbance. Moreover, even amongst individuals who showed significant improvement in autism symptoms, social integration in adulthood (employment, friendships, close relationships etc.) was limited. Although most of our findings are in line with the results of other studies of adults with autism, no individuals in the present cohort were reported to have lost their autism symptoms completely; in contrast, mental health problems were less than reported in previous research. This presentation will examine reasons for variability between studies and will also review the evidence for claims of recovery in autism and the potential influence of child characteristics and early intervention on later adult life. *Ref: Magiati, Tay & Howlin (2014) Cognitive, language, social and behavioural outcomes in adults with autism spectrum disorders: a systematic review Clin Psychol Rev., 34, Katie Cebula & Sue Fletcher-Watson: University of Edinburgh Outcomes from the SARG seminar 2015 and plans for the future The Scottish Autism Research Group aims to facilitate a network of researchers in Scotland in order to foster excellence in autism research that is valued by the autism community. While SARG is principally a research group we recognise that good research involves members of the wider community and has relevance to them. At our re-launch event in 2015 we were delighted to welcome autistic people, parents of children with autism and practitioners from a wide range of backgrounds, and we hope to do so again in In this brief presentation we will review the outcomes of the small discussion groups held at the 2015 seminar and highlight ways in which SARG hopes to build on those discussions, and respond to the needs of the autism community and of researchers in the future.

4 Stuart J Ritchie: Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology, University of Edinburgh Insights into cognitive and brain ageing from the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 As the global proportion of older people in the world increases, it becomes ever more important to understand the causes and consequences of age-related cognitive decline. The Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 is a sample of around 1,000 older adults who have been tested on a wide range of cognitive measures at ages 70, 73, and 76. They have been given detailed brain imaging scans at ages 73 and 76, and have provided many lifestyle, physical, and genetic measures. In this talk, I ll describe some new Lothian Birth Cohort analyses of longitudinal brain imaging (looking at white matter diffusion and brain atrophy), and some genetic analyses that are aimed at explaining why, in terms of their cognitive abilities, some cohort members have aged better than others. Jill Ferguson & Val Laurie: Scottish Autism Peaceful, pain free and dignified: palliative and end of life care for people on the autism spectrum. Jill Ferguson and Val Laurie work for Scottish Autism in services for adults on the autism spectrum, and started having conversations about end of life care following the experiences of a team from Scottish Autism who supported a person throughout his life and ultimately his death from terminal cancer. Supporting him at end of life was their first experience of delivering palliative and end of life care, so it was always going to be important to reflect on those learning experiences and share that with other teams who may face similar challenges in the future. These team reflections were filmed and a practitioner resource created in partnership with the British Institute of Learning Disability (BILD) and will be shared today. Amanda Roestorf: City University, London Growing Older with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Cognitive Functioning Across the Lifespan The patterning of cognitive and intellectual functioning associated with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) can have potentially profound effects on an individual s independence and quality of life across the lifespan. Difficulties in learning and language comprehension, reduced memory for personal experiences (autobiographical memory), an inability to regulate attention and inhibit context inappropriate behaviours, or effectively use planning strategies to complete everyday tasks (executive functions), affect the way in which an autistic individual relates to the world around them. In the general population, typical ageing has diverse effects on cognitive functioning in later life. Agerelated changes include memory loss, poorer reasoning, selectively impaired executive functions, and reduced ability to perform everyday skills such as self-care, or remembering to take one s medication (prospective memory). These changes are all linked with reduced independence, greater social isolation, and poorer quality of life. In this context, the potential challenges of ageing with autism will be discussed.

5 Research in a Flash Talks These talks are five minute slots for people at early career stages and / or developing new research ideas to present one element of their project. Speakers may overview a new project plan, describe a novel or interesting method, highlight a key result or describe impact of a completed piece of work. Kabie Brook: Autism Rights Group Highland Learning about Menopause through the shared experience of autistic people Menopause can be a difficult time, particularly when we don't have others to look to for advice and support. We hope to produce a resource produced by and for Autistic people, using capacity within Autistic community to enable learning through collaboration. Asaad Baksh: University of Edinburgh The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT): A Novel Way of Measuring Social Cognitive Functioning Social cognitive abilities refer to the processes that allow us to navigate the social world and are critical to facilitate successful interaction. The ecological validity of the tools used to measure these vital processes is at times limited. The Edinburgh Social Cognition Test (ESCoT) hopes to address this limitation. It provides dynamic self-contain interactions and is scored in a way that seeks to mirror how interactions are processed in the real world, focusing on the quality of answer and the efficient integration of contextually specific information. To date it has been utilised in studies exploring the consequences of ageing on social interaction abilities in adults aged between 18 and 85 with Autism Spectrum Disorder and neurotypical adults. Ewelina Rydzewska: Scottish Learning Disabilities Observatory Laura Anne Hughes-McCormack, Angela Henderson, Sally-Ann Cooper: The health of Scotland s 14,364 adults with autism Aims: For the populations with and without autism in the whole of Scotland, this study aimed to investigate: 1) self-rated general health status 2) demographic factors 3) prevalence of other disabilities. Method: We analysed Scotland's Census 2011 data, and generated descriptive statistics about people with and without autism. Results: People with autism (n=31,712) comprised 0.6% of the total population of Scotland (n=5,295,403). There were 14,364 (45.3%) people with autism aged 16 and over, of whom 3,715 (25.9%) were women and 10,649 (74.1%) were men. Very good or good health was described for 64.7% of all adults with autism, compared to 79.0% of all adults.

6 Kirsty Ainsworth: University of Glasgow Modelling facial expressions of emotion in adults with autism spectrum disorders The ability of individuals with ASD to accurately decode facial expressions of emotion has been a hotly debated (reviews Simmons, et al, 2009, Vis Res, 49, ; Harms et al, 2010, Neuropsy Rev, 20, ; Uljarevic et al, 2013, JADD, 43, ). Here, a novel technique (Yu et al, 2012, Comp & Graph, 36, ) was used to model the perception of facial expression of emotion in adults with ASD. Models reveal individual profiles of facial expression perception ability as well as patterns that vary between adults with ASD and typical controls.