Short report: A co-designed psychoeducation for older autistic adults-a multiple case study.

Researchers created the first education program specifically for autistic adults over 55, working with autistic people to design it. They tested it with 9 older autistic adults and their family members or friends. The program aimed to help autistic adults and their loved ones better understand autism together. While the program didn't show the expected improvements in understanding or self-esteem, participants said it still helped them and gave feedback for making it better.

This study developed and tested the first psychoeducation program specifically designed for older autistic adults (55+ years). Nine autistic adults aged 56-73 and their proxies participated in this co-designed intervention. The program aimed to reduce differences in perception between autistic adults and their proxies regarding autistic characteristics and cognitive challenges, hypothesizing this would improve mutual understanding. Additionally, researchers expected improvements in factors like self-esteem.

Results showed the program did not achieve the primary outcome of reducing perceptual differences, nor did it significantly impact other measured factors. However, participants provided positive feedback indicating the program helped them in certain ways and offered suggestions for improvement, supporting continued development of age-specific psychoeducation for this population.

While this first attempt at age-specific psychoeducation for older autistic adults did not achieve primary outcomes, the co-design approach and participant feedback provide valuable insights for program refinement. Clinicians should consider that older autistic adults may need specialized interventions, and brief psychoeducation alone may be insufficient for meaningful change.

Very small sample size (n=9), lack of control group, unclear outcome measures, and limited description of the intervention content and duration. The study design appears to be a case series rather than a controlled trial, limiting generalizability of findings.

After receiving an autism diagnosis by a clinician, psychoeducation (i.e. information regarding autism) is often offered. However, older autistic adults (55+ years) may need specific information about the challenges they face in daily life as they are in a specific life phase. A psychoeducation program for this specific age group does not exist yet. We first developed such a program together with autistic adults and clinicians working with autistic people, after which we tested the program with nine autistic adults (56-73 years) and someone close to them (so-called proxy).

Before testing the program, we determined together with autistic older adults what they thought should be the outcome of this intervention in order to state whether it was, indeed, a useful intervention. Earlier studies found that autistic people often think differently about their own autistic characteristics than their proxy. A reduction of this difference could increase mutual understanding. Therefore, the main hypothesis was that the program would decrease this difference with respect to autistic characteristics and cognitive challenges (e.g. memory problems).

Another hypothesis was that the program would have a positive impact on a series of other factors, such as self-esteem. The results showed that the program did neither decrease the difference in insight nor the other tested factors. Nonetheless, we believe it is important to keep on working on a psychoeducation program for older autistic adults, because participants informed us the program had still helped them in certain ways and they gave helpful feedback for improvements of the program.