• Enhancing Quality of Life in Autistic Adults: A Review of the Interventions
  • Morvarid Ghanei,1,*
    1. Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Advanced Sciences and technology of Islamic Azad University, Tehran Medical Branch, Tehran, Iran


  • Introduction: Autism spectrum disorder individuals always have different issues, such as sleep problems, stress, and speech communication complications; And they also have social problems and the demand for autonomy and job opportunities as they grow up. Even though interventions in childhood and adolescence impact adulthood, there is always a necessity for distinct interventions in adulthood.
  • Methods: This review involved the search of keywords such as autism, adults, and intervention from the three databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, and Civilica. During screening, studies which focused on adults (18 years old and older) were included, while studies focusing on children and adolescents were excluded.
  • Results: A lot of individuals with autism often experience delayed sleep onset and problems in their circadian rhythms. In this context, an intervention involving a two-week group program with parental involvement helped a 21-year-old manage his sleep patterns and improve his quality of life. Another challenge for adults with autism is language skill deficits at work. A group of adults participated in an intervention that included group therapy and support sessions. More than fifty percent of the participants reported lower stress levels. Fewer than 32 percent said the interventions were helpful for their speech, language abilities, and physical activity. Additionally, 70 percent of professionals evaluated the approach as effective and beneficial. Another study explored the health benefits of swimming and water therapy for adults with high-functioning autism. This research showed improvements in physical capability but also noted a drop in concentration. More research is needed with a larger sample size, including individuals with low-functioning autism spectrum.
  • Conclusion: Currently, society's main focus is early diagnosis and symptom reduction by early interventions. However, some autistic adults were deprived of it as kids, or even with interventions as kids, still have more problems as adults compared to their peers. The majority of autistic individuals remain working in low-paid jobs despite having average IQs due to impairment in social communication. There should be more studies on empowering autistic adults, and experiments previously conducted should be repeated with larger study populations for confirmation.
  • Keywords: Autistic adults, Interventions, Daily living skills