An autism patient in 50s

I met this person once in a meeting of him, his mother, his social worker, his psychotherapist and officials from the county disability office for the patient’s application of certain social benefits for mentally incompetent people.

 The most significant feature of this case is the patient’s age. Already in his 50s (~56), he is definitely the oldest autism patient I have met. A plump man with medium height, the patient can move around by himself fine but somehow not very stable. Later, I learnt that the patient has joint problems which affect his hands and knees as well as his gait.   

 His mother, who is already in her late 70s, is his caregiver, came with him. He also has a younger sister, who has already been married, and lives nearby. He is a native English speaker, but his mother mostly speaks Chinese and needed an interpreter. The patient was the primary speaker in this meeting, and his social worker and his psychotherapist supplemented, and his mother only spoke a little.

He came to the USA with his mother around 8-year-old, and as soon as he went to an American school, he was put into a special education program, and was diagnosed with autism soon after. He began to go to a school for special needs kids soon after he got to middle school, and stayed there until he was 21-year-old. Then he stayed in a vocational training school for special needs adults until he was 24/25-year-old. Afterwards, he went to learning programs for special needs adults to work on his GED (General Education Development), but never succeeded. Even now, he took the bus to a learning program one day every week.

 He only worked several weeks in a  Food Bank when he was about 24-25 years old. However, he could not focus long enough to keep his job. When asked what he wanted to do in life, he said he dreamed about getting his GED certificate and getting a job. However, it is really not a realistic hope.

 He conducts most of his daily activity independently, such as dressing and undressing himself, taking a shower, keeping hygiene et al. However, he is unable to prepare food for himself or do simple purchases. He can do laundry, clean the house, and help to carry heavy items for his mother. But it is difficult for him to communicate with persons other than persons he is already familiar with. He likes to watch TV and listen to radio at home, and has never gotten into any trouble. 

His mother said that she can take care of him now. However, she is worried what will happen to him if anything happens to her since she is quite old now. She would like him to go to a group home when she was unable to take care of him. The official said that the space in such a group home is very limited, and currently there is really nothing they can do to help his situation except for appointing a case manager to this family. They can contact him/her once their situation is altered, and the case manager would help them do an emergency application then to find if it is possible for the patient to go to a group home.

This should be a mild case of autism. Although the patient obviously has a learning disability, he does not have severe psychological symptoms. He can make meaningful communication and provide a little help to his mother. Currently, he lives a peaceful life and is well taken care of. I wish him and his family the best.