Description
Dr. Elaine Clarke, a finalist for the open tenure-track position in Adult Development and Aging, will be giving a public lecture titled "Towards a Holistic Understanding of Adult Development in Autism."
If you are interested, please ask your professor if this talk is available for extra credit in their course.
Abstract follows:
Development is a dynamic and lifelong process, yet much of what we know about autistic development comes from studies of children. As increasing numbers of autistic individuals reach adulthood, there is a growing need to understand how developmental trajectories unfold across the lifespan. It is also imperative to define and carefully measure success in adult life in ways that are relevant to autistic individuals with diverse profiles of strengths and challenges, as well as their families. In this talk, I will draw on longitudinal research following autistic individuals from early childhood into their thirties to examine patterns of stability and change in daily living skills and how these developmental patterns relate to adult outcomes. I will then consider the limitations of conventional indicators of adult success, such as employment and independent living, and discuss my ongoing efforts to develop more inclusive methods of measuring autistic adult well-being. I will end by outlining future directions for extending this research into middle and later adulthood, including opportunities for undergraduate involvement in longitudinal, mixed-methods, and community-engaged research.