Health and social care needs can change with age yet researchers have rarely examined this in the context of autistic adults. This project will explore the views and experiences of the autism community to establish areas of priority and gaps in social care support for older autistic people.

There is a lack of understanding of how age-related changes may intersect with autism-related support needs, such as during later life transitions, and of how social care organisations should adapt their practices when engaging with older autistic people. Without high-quality research into autism, ageing, and social care, the prospect of later life for the autism community is an unknown, daunting proposition. The All Party Parliamentary Group on Autism highlighted that social care professionals require better autism training and that many autistic people face significant barriers when attempting to access appropriate social care assessments. Unmet needs may make it even more difficult for autistic people to cope with the challenges that ageing brings. It is important that more is done to improve social care practices for older autistic adults.

This project was awarded as part of the Autistica Social Care Grant Development Awards supported by CareTech. The purpose of these projects is to allow researchers to develop a better understanding of a topic and community needs in relation to it. They can then use this knowledge to form an application to the NIHR Research for Social Care Funding Call.