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#autisticelders | Ann Memmott | 10 comments
Autistic Grandparents.
What we know about them would arguably fit comfortably on the back of a postage stamp, in a very large font.
Why? Because we were looking for young white boys with high support needs, for decade after decade.
The NHS survey of half of its GPs was an eye opener. Results here: https://lnkd.in/eu62tg-f .
I want to look at two figures:
The figure of 18-24 yr olds (male). 37,000-ish who don't also have a learning disability. Another 7500-ish who do also have a learning disability.
Now, our reminder that autistic people are autistic for life. It's a different brain design, from birth. So, we're going to find that same number all the way up the age ranges, yes? [Adjusted for deaths later in life of course]
Nope.
By age 65-74, the first 'pensioner years', our figures are less than 800 autistic people without a learning disability, and nearly 500 with a learning disability.
So, we've only found 1 in every 35 autistic people in that age group, probably. Many of them likely diagnosed because they also had a learning disability, hence the bigger proportion who have both things.
It's a lot worse in the over 75s. Hardly anyone identified.
Our GPs, hospitals, communities, etc haven't the slightest idea that 34 out of every 35 older autistic people are unidentified as yet.
Which brings us back to autistic grandparents. Perhaps 34 out of every 35 not yet identified. Probably doing a fantastic job as a grandparent, too, and bringing so much to community and family life. That typical autistic integrity, attention to detail, dedication, deep knowledge, checking safety, honesty, etc.
On e.g. Google Scholar, nearly a million research papers for the search term 'autistic'.
One, for the search term 'autistic grandparent'. And that only mentions it in passing.
One.
We know nothing about their lives, in research terms.
Our autism research industries are a mess, aren't they.
#AutisticElders | 10 comments on LinkedIn
