Sociology of Autism in Adulthood: Case Study and Support Needs

This sociology essay examines autism in adulthood through a case study of a 60-year-old man named Pat, who faced challenges since childhood. The essay explores the impact of adulthood experiences on individuals with autism, including career implications. It analyzes generational changes, challenges, and support needs for autistic adults, emphasizing the importance of understanding autism from both medical and social perspectives. The analysis covers issues such as employment, social relationships, and healthcare, and discusses the need for support to mitigate isolation and depression. The essay reflects on the impact of changing societal knowledge and practices related to autism, advocating for a more inclusive approach that recognizes autism as a different way of being rather than a deficit.

Sociology
Masters in Special Education
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Sociology
Introduction
Autism also called Autism spectrum disorder is a broad range of conditions that are often
characterized by various issues such as repetitive behaviors, speech; both verbal and non-verbal
development as well as social skills (Gray et al, 2014).
This write-up is going to address the issue of autism in adulthood through a thorough analysis of
a certain case study about Pat, a man who has had challenges ever since he was a child. A
rationale will be provided of how adulthood experiences can impact an individual with autism
and their career in general. There also would be a description of changes as well as challenges
throughout generations for an individual with autism in adulthood. In addition to this, there
would be a detailed description of the support needs that are required for an individual with
adulthood autism. Finally, there would be a reflection on the issue of adulthood autism in general
and some of the issues that are associated with it.
Section 1
Introduction of the case
Pat is a 60-year-old who has had so many challenges and complications ever since he was a
child. He left school at the age of 16 as a direct consequence of the bullying that he experienced
in school. He faced bullying as well as teasing from both his peers as well as older students in
higher grades. His peers teased him because of his appearance; he looked so funny and
somewhat different in his appearance despite the fact that he who school uniform just like other
kids in school.

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Despite the fact that Pat was so clever in class, his intellect was rarely challenged. He completely
refrained from participating in class because of the past experiences that he had with people
teasing him so much. Pat also rarely engaged himself in positive social interactions as he
becomes so anxious when he tried to connect with his peers as they were discussing other issues.
Basically Pat is a student that faced so many rough times in his life as a student.
Sometime after Pat finished school he fell into a deep depression and found it extremely difficult
to get out of bed as well as leave the house. Luckily, a family friend came to the rescue and
offered Pat an opportunity in an IT firm. At this IT firm, Pat worked so hard and climbed his way
up into a really good position (Sacrey, Armstrong, Bryson, Zwaigenbaum, 2014).
Before moving out at the age of 30, Pat had made so much money and had even bought himself a
house. The company that Pat worked at was then bought by an international corporation and so
many changes in the management were made. The new CEO of the company ruled with an iron
fist and Pat experienced anxiety as he did not get so much support as he used to.
Pat now has a tiresome home life with so many signs of depression and avoiding all possible
social interactions. His elder son has Asperger’s and his twin girls have autism.
Development of adulthood support knowledge in Autism
In most cases, when people think or hear about Autism they often think about children. Studies
have clearly indicated that this is not the case because autism is a lifelong diagnosis as in case of
Pat. When a child grows up with autism, the symptoms changes with age. Many suggestions
have been provided on to why symptoms of autism reduce as a person gets older, till date there
has not been a discrete explanation to this issue (Boehm, Carter, Taylor, 2015).

Sociology
Studies clearly indicate that age and severity of autism are somewhat related. As in case of Pat
this is so because as age increases, the severity of autism signs also increased. In simpler times,
this is to say that as age increases the signs and symptoms of autism became more visible. This
explains for an assumption that has been there for quite some time now and that’s the main
reason as to why such individuals have a high severity of such signs and symptoms (Howlin &
Magiati, 2017).
There is a need to support individuals who have been diagnosed with Autism in their late ages
because this would be very crucial for them based on the severity of the signs and symptoms that
they are likely to develop. It is also equally important how such people change as they get older
so as to develop the right skills and device ways to help them.
Without support and mutual care, autism can make people feel so much isolated as in case of Pat.
It is therefore important to develop adulthood support knowledge in Autism (Cheak‐Zamora,
Teti, First, 2015).
Analysis of key issues in the case
In the case, we see that Pat is a child who experiences so many difficulties as far as his life in
school is concerned as well as his social life. He faces bullying because of his nature and
appearance. The bullying gets so intense at a point where Pat leaves school.
Pat is also has a problem in term so of making positive social interactions. He suffers from
anxiety as he tries to connect to topics that his peers are talking about. In addition to this, Pat is
described as his physical education teacher as a child who is lanky and uncoordinated because he
could not take part in some activities in that class. The issue here was that Pat was so much

Sociology
interested but could not take part in any of these activities because his anxiety heightened and
therefore found it really hard to take instructions from the teacher.
All these events define Peter as a child who has autism ever since he was a little boy. Despite the
fact that he was not diagnosed at an early age, Pat indicates signs and symptoms like that of an
autistic child. This is so because first and foremost, Pat suffers from cases of anxiety when he
wants to get engaged in conversations with his peers as well as when his physical education
teacher tries to talk to him. In addition to this Pat also experiences some cases of loneliness as
most of his peers and students in older grades make fun of him and also bully him so much.
Moreover, after school, Pat suffers from depression, a condition that is also related to autism. A
family friend comes for Pat's rescue and this was really helpful for Pat as this formed a very
important milestone in his career. Pat does so well at his workplace but immediately a new CEO
is appointed after the sale of the company, Pat starts having so many issues. First and foremost,
we see that is elder son has Asperger's and her twin daughters are diagnosed with autism. Pat
experiences so much depression at this time. Well, at old age studies indicate autism often makes
people tend to resist change. The sudden change at his work upon the sale of the company and
the new CEO makes life so difficult for Pat.
A rationale of how adulthood experiences can impact an individual with autism and their
careers
As mentioned earlier in case of Pat, at an old age people often tend to show more severe signs
and symptoms of autism. This clearly indicates that at an old age and/or adulthood autism is
likely to have an impact on a person's life as well as their careers (Smith, Maenner, Seltzer,
2012).

Sociology
Autistics adults often have challenges with employment, social relationships, and healthcare. As
we have seen with Pat, he had an issue with employment because the change that happened at his
workplace really affected him. In addition to this, we see that Pat also had an issue with his
social life, he did not want to interact with his friends no matter how few they were. Last but not
least, Pat also had an issue with his health as he did not want to see a psychologist with the fear
of being diagnosed with autism (Woodman, Smith, Greenberg, Mailick, 2015).
Section II
Changes and challenges throughout generations through an individual and career person
specific to autism in childhood
As mentioned earlier in case of Pat, autism is a life-long condition that one can be diagnosed
with at any stage in their lives. At adulthood signs and symptoms tend to be more severe. In such
cases, a person tends to encounter so many changes and challenges (Friedman, Warfield, Parish,
2013).
First and foremost, autism in adulthood makes a person resistant to change as in case of Pat. An
autistic adult often has issues especially when a sudden change is set to be initiated or when they
are they are instructed to do something. They often seem reluctant and opposed to such changes
(Magiati, Tay, Howlin, 2014).This could lead to a series of depression as well as anxiety
disorders.
Secondly, autism in adulthood makes people have challenges in social relationships and behavior
as in case of Pat. Such people often tend to avoid interacting with people even their closest
friends.

Sociology
In addition to this, autistic adults as in case of Pat often have challenges as far as their healthcare
is concerned. Such individuals often find it hard to seek medical attention, in most cases, they
have to be forced to seek medical attention (Rydzewska, 2012).
Support needs to be required for an individual and career in relation to adulthood
Without support and mutual care, autism can make people feel so much vulnerable as in case of
Pat. It is therefore important to develop adulthood support knowledge in Autism (Howlin, Moss,
Savage, Rutter, 2014).
As an individual one needs to be provided with so much care and support as in case of Pat. In
most cases, such individuals often experience cases of withdrawal, depression as well as anxiety.
It is therefore important that they are taken good care of and provided the right medical condition
as soon as possible (Happé et al, 2916).
In terms of careers as in case of Pat, autism in adulthood can be really catastrophic. People tend
to experience withdrawal and this makes them not be in a position to take even the simplest
instructions that are addressed to them. This, therefore, calls for a need for support of such
individuals in all aspects so as to help them in their careers (Matthews et al, 2015).
Section III
A reflection on the impact of the changes in generational knowledge and practice covered
in the cause
There are quite a number of ways of understanding autism as seen in case of Pat. Some of these
are based on a medical perspective and a social perspective that often takes account of both
political as well as cultural factors (Wehman et al, 2014).

Sociology
Autism is a condition that needs to be seen as a way of how different people are but rather not as
a deficit or something that is not normal about a person. Through observing the former then
people will develop and come up with various measures that are aimed towards supporting and
helping autistic people in the society, both children as well as adults. Also, as in case of Pat
autism is a life-long condition that needs to be addressed with so much seriousness in society
(Cadman et al, 2012).
In addition to this, autism is a really sensitive condition as in case of Pat. This therefore calls for
the need to create conducive environments and would be aimed towards supporting autistic
people. In adulthood autism tends to be more severe and when not properly taken care of it could
be really catastrophic.
Conclusion
As depicted in case of Pat, autism in adulthood is something that is present in society today.
Adults that have been diagnosed with autism as seen in case study of Pat tend to have more
severe signs and symptoms in comparison to persons that have been diagnosed with autism at an
early stage in their lives (Howlin & Moss, 2012). This, therefore, calls a need for support and
care for such people both in their personal lives as well as their careers.

Sociology
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