Evidence from the Autism Transitions Research Project (2017-2022): Capstone review and services research recommendations.

This review looked at 31 studies about helping autistic young people transition to adulthood. While research has improved in some areas, there are still important gaps. The researchers found we need better data systems, services that help marginalized communities, improved coordination between different support services, and more involvement of autistic people in research itself.

This capstone review examined 31 studies from a five-year federal Autism Transition Research Project (2017-2022) to assess progress in autism transition services research and identify evidence gaps. The review found improvements in participant characterization, broader socio-ecological examination, and multiple outcome domains compared to prior research. However, significant gaps remain in autistic participant inclusion, multisectoral data use, and equity-focused research. The authors recommend priorities including population-level data analysis, service delivery methods for marginalized groups, improved service ecosystem coordination, and enhanced autistic research participation to facilitate healthy life outcomes and wellbeing for transition-age autistic youth.

Findings suggest need for improved service coordination, better data infrastructure, and development of interventions targeting marginalized autistic youth. Clinicians should advocate for more comprehensive, equity-focused approaches to transition services and support increased autistic participation in service planning and research.

This is a scoping review of federally-funded studies only, which may not represent all autism transition research. The review methodology focused on published studies, potentially missing unpublished findings. No sample size reported for the overall population studied across the 31 reviewed studies.

Few funding sources have explicitly supported systems-wide research to identify mechanisms for improving access, service delivery, outcomes and wellbeing for autistic transition-age youth and young adults. We aimed to integrate findings from research produced through a five-year federal Autism Transition Research Project (ATRP) cooperative agreement. This capstone review sought to: (1) map the body of scientific evidence that emerged from this federal award, and (2) identify remaining evidence gaps to inform future autism transition services research. We used scoping review methods to assess 31 ATRP-funded published scientific studies.

We charted study characteristics, topical domains, socio-ecological levels of variables, focus on equity, and inclusion of autistic participants. We evaluated how these topics were addressed across studies to identify continued gaps in the evidence base. Compared to prior published reviews and research agendas, we found improvements in characterization of study participants, broader examination of socio-ecological correlates, and examination of multiple outcome domains. However, we also identified continued deficits in inclusion of autistic study participants, use of multisectoral data, and research with a strong focus on equity.

Our recommended priorities for autism transition services research to facilitate healthy life outcomes and wellbeing included: continued analysis of population-level data and improved data infrastructure; development of service delivery methods and interventions that target marginalized groups; expanded research to inform improvements in the performance and coordination of complex service ecosystems that interface with autistic youth; and bolstering the roles of autistic research participants.