Open Society

Background: Sensory processing differences (SPDs) and mental health symptoms are not limited to young autistic people but continue to occur into adulthood. However, existing quantitative research has predominantly focused on younger autistic people. Less work has been done to investigate SPDs and relationships with mental health conditions in older autistic adults (i.e., aged 40 and older) across their midlife and older adulthood. Methods: A total of 432 participants (autistic n = 265; non-autistic n = 167) aged 40–93 years completed online questionnaires related to SPDs and mental health (i.e., anxiety and depression symptoms). Neurotype and gender differences, age associations, and associations between SPDs and mental health were examined. Participants’ contextualization of their lived experiences of SPDs was analyzed qualitatively. Results: Overall, SPDs and mental health symptoms were more apparent in the autistic group than the non-autistic group, with autistic women showing higher levels of SPDs and poorer mental health than autistic men. SPDs were more often reported to worsen across adulthood by those in the autistic group than those in the non-autistic group, with older autistic people more often reporting worse coping abilities. Furthermore, positive associations between SPDs and anxiety/depression symptoms were observed in the autistic group, with the strength of associations increasing with age. From the qualitative data, we developed six topics reflecting participants’ lived experience of SPDs. Conclusion: Quantitative and qualitative evidence suggest that autistic adults in older age may be more likely to have a heightened risk of SPDs and associated poorer mental health. This study extends previous understanding of SPDs with mainly younger autism populations and highlights the necessity of exploring sensory difficulties in autistic adults in midlife and older adulthood.

Fergus (they/them) I am a writer , autistic community organiser and science teacher, based in Edinburgh. I co-founded Autistic Mutual Aid Society Edinburgh , an

This research roundup picks out some of the current big debates on autistic lives, and showcases new and important research from teams and academics working within the field.

This article explores the necessity of and requirements for developing a neurodiverse interpretation of the right to quality education for autistic children. While the debates have so far mostly focused on the questions of access and inclusivity of education, interrogations around the meaning of quality education for autistic children have also started to emerge. Focusing on the individual and identity aims of education, this paper examines the implications that a neurodiverse perspective would hold in developing a better understanding of the right to quality education for autistic children. It argues that to provide quality education to autistic children first and foremost requires respecting their identity, development, and cognitive, social, and communicative functioning, both at the individual and the collective levels.

The New York City Draft Massacre (“Riots”) were the largest civil insurrection in U.S. history besides the Civil War itself. White mobs attacked the African American community — committing murder and burning homes and institutions (including an orphanage.)

A Senate report says youth in residential treatment facilities too often suffer physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, while operators profit from tax dollars.

Survivors of therapeutic boarding schools—like the one Paris Hilton attended—speak out in new docuseries on Max.

The right-wing influence op has hit "the bottom of the barrel," one expert said.

There’s a conversation about “techlash” happening on here right now, and it’s an interesting meme, mostly because it is as imaginary as “cancel culture”, and is contrived for the same reasons. (For context, I have been a multiple-time tech CEO & founder, leading companies with millions of users.) …

Project 2025 is an extreme right-wing initiative organized by The Heritage Foundation to provide policy and personnel to the next Republican presidential administration. An analysis of Project 2025’s proposals for significant changes to the tax system suggests that millions of middle- and lower-income families would see a “significant” tax increase, while millionaires and the richest families would get a massive tax cut. There are reasons to believe that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Project 2025 also wants to roll back additional IRS funding authorized by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which was intended to help the agency hire new staff to crack down on tax cheats. A report this week showed that those new hires were instrumental in collecting $1 billion worth of back taxes. For years, right-wing media have raged against expanding the capacity of the IRS to pursue such tax cheats. Project 2025 and its partners are heavily pushing to give a second Trump administration more power to pursue this pro-wealthy agenda.

The category 1 storm dealt the city disastrous damage. Houston’s first direct hit from a hurricane in decades showed how vulnerable the nation’s energy capital remains.

The U-shaped curve that pegged youth and old age as the happiest times of life has changed

The same percentage of employed people who worked remotely in 2023 is the same as the previous year, a survey found

How Utah became the most exploitative state in private adoption.

A $35 million settlement with a communications firm resolving allegations of unlawful record retention exemplifies the Federal Communications Commission’s most substantial privacy enforcement push in nearly a decade, despite mounting pressures from courts, lawmakers, and industry for deregulation.

It’s not just about people watching porn. It’s drag queens, trans people, LGBTQ library books, and more.

Columnist: Project 2025 fosters hatred of those who don’t agree with its views and seeks to ostracize its philosophical enemies.

The Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 is a dystopian vision for America. Voters should take heed.

Donald Trump's far-right allies created Project 2025 as a blueprint for his possible second term. The controversial plan would push a Christian nationalist agenda that dramatically reshapes the U.S. government and restricts people's freedoms

Houston's efforts to suppress its waters creates a culture of flooding

Join The New York Public Library to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of writer and activist James Baldwin with special exhibitions, free programs for all ages, book giveaways, and more.

When I attended K-12 evangelical Christian schools in the 1980s and 1990s, we didn’t call ourselves Christian nationalists; we just called ourselves Christians. As the pious Christians we were (compelled to be), we memorized Bible verses for assignments, attended mandatory weekly chapel services, an

pMental health care and its radical possibilities reimagined in the context of its global development under capitalism./ppThe contemporary world is oversaturated with psychiatric programs, methods, and reforms promising to address any number of "crises" in mental health care. When these fail, alternatives to the alternatives simply pile up and seem to lead nowhere./ppIn an original and compelling account of radical experimentation in psychiatry, Warren traces a double movement in the global development of mental health services throughout the 20th century: a radical current pushing totalizing and idealistic visions of care to their practical limits and a reactionary one content with managing or eliminating chronically idle surplus populations./ppMoral treatment is read in light of the utopian socialist movement; the theory of communication in the French Institutional Psychotherapy of Félix Guattari is put into conversation with the Brazilian art therapy of Nise da Silveira; the Mexican anti-psychiatry movement's.../p

A Q&A with Susan Blum on her new book.

« Woke » is a term that everyone's been using but few have gotten quite right.

» In this time of national emergency it is vital to know the true status of our Negro minority.

How a washed-up celebrity, men’s rights activists and true crime stans convinced millions of Americans to buy into a conspiracy theory

W M Kelley article on words and phrases peculiar to Amer Negroes; cartoons; glossary