Autism is a life-long condition, but most public awareness and public policy focus is on autistic children. A new study looked at how autism affects the lives of young people transitioning into adulthood.

The long-awaited National Autism Indicators Report highlights safety and risk indicators for young adults with autism and serves as a call to action to invest more interest in these individuals, Drexel University reported.

"When it comes to understanding how well our nation is helping youth affected by autism, our situation is like driving a car through the fog with no dashboard," said Paul Shattuck, leader of the Life Course Outcomes Research Program and an associate professor at Drexel. "We know we're moving, but we do not have many indicators to tell us how fast we are going, whether we're getting close to our goals, or what kind of mileage we are getting from the resources fueling our trip."

The findings showed about 37 percent of young adults with autism were disconnected in their early 20s, meaning they never got a job or continued education after high school; only about 8 percent of individuals of this age group who did not have autism were disconnected. Transition planning, which is a vital process in helping youth build skills to prepare them for the work force and adulthood, was often delayed, and only 58 percent of youth had a transition plan by the federally required age.

About 26 percent of adults on the autism spectrum and 28 percent of those unemployed and not in school did not receive any services to help them become employed, continue their education, or lead more independent lives.

In the absence of social lives created through work and school, one in four young adults with autism were socially isolated and had not had interactions with friends within the past year.  In terms of living arrangements, one in five adults on the autism spectrum had ever lived independently (without parental supervision) between high school and their early 20s.

"This is the most comprehensive report to date describing what we know about young adults with autism as a whole and across the various parts of their lives. Yet, it represents only a fraction of what we need to know. Huge gaps remain," said Anne M. Roux, research scientist at the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute in the Life Course Outcomes Research Program and lead author of the report.

See the full report HERE.