Hunting more than woozles – why we must study ASD and other atypical conditions in the older population

Ian Stuart-HamiltonProfessor of Developmental Psychology

University of Glamorgan

• Psychogerontology should be the study of the psychology of ageing

• But mostly it is ‘cognitive gerontology’ + ‘psychometrics gerontology’ + ‘neuropsychological gerontology’

A child witharchetypal facial

features of Williamssyndrome

Brain tissue loss in older adults, with, from top to bottom:no cognitive change; mild cognitive impairment;

Alzheimer’s disease..

Gemma Griffith, Vasiliki Totsika, Susie Nash, and Richard P. HastingsSchool of Psychology

Bangor University

David Felce and Michael KerrWelsh Centre for Learning Disabilities

Cardiff University

Hugh MorganDirectorate for Children’s Health and Social Services,

Welsh Assembly Government

Ian Stuart-HamiltonDepartment of PsychologyUniversity of Glamorgan

With grateful thanks to:

Autism CymruCardiff University

Learning Disability and Autism NetworkNational Autistic Society

Welsh Assembly GovernmentWelsh Centre for Learning Disabilities at Cardiff University

We tested:

(a)basic biographical information (e.g. age, employment, income)

(b) quality of life (measured by EuroQOL)(c) health measures (d) the Asperger Quotient test (Baron-Cohen et

al., 2001)

In the last 4 weeks, how often did you feel so sad that nothing could cheer you up?

Blue = all/some/most of the time

Green = a little/never