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A Qualitative Examination of the Transportation Experiences and Needs of Young Adults with ASD without Intellectual Disability
Objectives: To use a qualitative approach to explore the transportation-related experiences of young adults with ASD without intellectual disability.
Methods: Participants were 18 young adults with ASD (14 males; ages 18 to 33 years; M age = 24.55, SD = 4.16) and at least one parent of each adult (15 mothers, 3 mother/father dyads). All young adult participants had a composite IQ ≥ 70 (M = 95.67, SD = 13.88) and a documented clinical diagnosis of ASD; all but one met criteria for autism/autism spectrum on the ADOS-2. We oversampled for employed adults with ASD (n = 8); the remaining 10 participants included 2 full-time college students, 2 part-time college students, 1 high school student (age 21), 2 participants about to begin jobs, and 3 unemployed participants not enrolled in school.
Adults and their parent(s) participated in separate 90-minute semi-structured interviews developed by the authors about independent living skills and employment experiences. Interviews were transcribed and coded line-by-line using grounded theory methodology (Strauss & Corbin, 1990). The current analysis focuses on all transportation-related axial codes from interviews with 10 adults and their parents. Coding of the remaining interviews is in progress, and final analysis will include focused coding of all 18 participants’ interviews.
Results: Preliminary axial-codes are reported in Table 1.
Conclusions: Findings revealed that many young adults were independent in at least one area of transportation (e.g., driving; public transportation; biking/walking to work). Some participants reported a lack of desire to drive due to ASD-related impairments (e.g., attentional issues); feeling unsafe; or because they perceive driving to be unnecessary. Also, some participants reported dissatisfaction with public transportation (e.g., expensive; unreliable) and difficulties with navigation. In addition to noting these difficulties, both participants and their parents acknowledged that lack of independent transportation is a barrier to employment and improved daily living skills (e.g., health care; grocery shopping).
Parents expressed transportation-related concerns, including fears about traffic accidents or being taken advantage of when using public and alternative modes of transit (e.g., ride sharing apps). Some parents prohibited their young adult from driving, whereas others allowed their young adult to drive despite reservations. Most young adults with driving experience reported no or only minor car accidents, whereas one young adult had multiple significant car accidents.
Adults and their parents suggested that the importance of transportation independence depends on the location of the adult’s home. Location also plays an essential role when transitioning to independent living. Jobs and services that were once conveniently located may be unreachable at a new residence due to limited access to transportation. Together, findings complement existing literature on transportation among adults with ASD, and highlight the importance of including transportation considerations when planning for the transition to adulthood.