Our goal is to bring together researchers and research users for a series of facilitated virtual 90-minute engagement meetings focused on the aging experiences of autistic and ADHD adults aged 45-69 in BC. Participants will include researchers and trainees, persons with lived experience, and representatives from healthcare, mental health, workplace, insurance/benefits, and disability-support sectors. Participants will be provided with accessible materials to review prior to the first meeting. We will begin by focusing on understanding the experiences of autistic and ADHD adults as they seek recognition, assessment, accommodation, and support for aging-related changes. We will explore barriers and facilitators to accessing appropriate and effective support to promote health aging, and work to identify areas for future collaborative research to foster the development of effective supports to foster healthy aging for autistic adults and those with ADHD. Each session will take place a few weeks apart so we can create and share summaries of the previous event with participants and allow for time to reflection on what was discussed.
Specific topics addressed will include:
1. Healthcare access and response: how well are participants’ aging-related needs are identified, assessed and supported in primary, mental health, and allied health care?
2. Work, disability, and insurance: how do participants navigate changes in work capacity, employment stability, accommodations, medical leave, benefits, disability claims, and insurance-related supports?
3. Caregiving and social support: how do participants manage caregiving responsibilities, social connection, peer support, community services, and informal supports while addressing their own aging-related health needs?
The anticipated outcomes include:
– Identifying research and knowledge gaps related to neurodivergent aging;
– Increasing awareness of neurodivergent aging as a healthy aging issue in BC;
– Strengthening connections between researchers, healthcare systems, community partners, and lived-experience participants;
– Identifying opportunities for future collaborative and participatory research;
– Informing future practice improvement related to healthy aging, primary care, workplace, disability, insurance, and community support systems; and
– Developing a summary document outlining key themes, priorities, and future directions to share with participants, academic partners, and Neurodiversity Change Foundation networks.
Additional team members and participating organizations:
Neurodiversity Change Foundation