Dr Gavin R. Stewart

The talks are added to a YouTube playlist. If you go to the Eventbrite page linked above, there is a link to this playlist with all of the previous ARCH talks :)

This is a poster advertising the ARCH (or Autism Research) Seminar Series. This talk takes place on the 22nd of October, 2025, at 2pm on Zoom. The talk is being given by Nell Fahey, who uses she and her pronouns, and is an MSc graduate from King's College London. She is being introduced by Dr Gavin Stewart, who uses he and him pronouns, and is a senior research fellow at King's College London. The talk title is "Exploring the Social Experiences of Autistic Adults in Midlife and Old Age: a co-produced qualitative study". The abstract reads "Being connected to other people and having good access to social support are often linked to a better quality of life as we get older. However, autistic people often experience barriers to being socially connected. Our co-produced study set out to explore the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults, with a particular focus on the types of social connections they would like as they age. We interviewed 33 autistic people in midlife and old age and conducted a reflexive thematic analysis of their responses. Our findings highlighted the varying impact that ageing can have on people’s social experiences and suggest that social motivations and barriers to social interaction may differ for autistic adults in midlife compared with those in old age. In this talk, we will describe our co-production process and highlight these key findings and what they mean for autistic people."

📣The ARCH seminar is back!
Join us on October 22nd to hear from Nell Fahey (with introduction from Dr Gavin Stewart) about their work on the social experiences of middle-aged and older autistic adults.
More info on our mailout - sign up and get tickets @ www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...

Co-occurring functional neurological disorder and autism: an exploratory study of comorbidities in a retrospective cohort study using TriNetX - Journal of Neurology Background Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) encompasses motor, cognitive, and sensory symptoms resulting from disruptions in brain-body communication. Emerging research suggests a higher-than-expected occurrence of autism in FND, potentially due to shared cognitive mechanisms and overlapping comorbidities. However, large-scale characterisation of this dual-diagnosis is lacking. Methods Using de-identified health records from the TriNetX research network, we identified children and adults with both FND and autism (‘FND + Autism’), comparing them to individuals with FND only (‘FND-only’) and autism only (‘Autism-only’). We examined psychiatric comorbidities (e.g. mood, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, personality disorders, obsessive–compulsive disorder), intellectual disability and ADHD. Results Of 220,312 individuals with an FND diagnosis, and 674,971 individuals with an autism diagnosis, 5,152 (2.3% of FND, 0.76% of autism) had both FND and autism. The rates of autism were therefore 6 times higher in FND compared to the base rates of the TriNetX population. Most were diagnosed with autism before FND, with over one-third diagnosed in childhood. Functional seizures were the most common FND subtype, and were more frequent in FND + Autism than FND-only (adults: 52% vs. 44%; children: 47% vs. 42%). Comorbidity across all psychiatric conditions was significantly higher in FND + Autism compared to both comparison groups. ADHD was particularly elevated in FND + Autism (adults: 50% vs. 13% FND-only, 36% Autism-only; children: 64% vs. 21% FND-only, 41% Autism-only). Conclusions This study presents the largest dataset to date characterising individuals with co-occurring FND and autism. Findings are consistent with previous findings of higher rates of autism in people with FND and reveal a potentially distinct clinical profile, marked by elevated rates of ADHD and psychiatric comorbidities, and increased occurrence of functional seizures compared to FND- or Autism-only groups. Recognising this overlap may improve diagnosis, clinical care, and understanding of mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of FND and autism.

Excited to share my first first-author paper in Journal of Neurology! 🧠

Using the TriNetX dataset (176M patients), we explored co-occurring FND and Autism - work first presented at the RCPsych Neuropsychiatry Conf

Read it here: link.springer.com/article/10.1...

#Autism #FND #Neuropsychiatry

On the @annualreviews.bsky.social website, there is a new review on autism and aging. It covers areas including underdiagnosis for #ActuallyAutistic adults aged 40 and over.

The review is available at www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

Loneliness in young adulthood: a 12-year follow up in an epidemiological, genetically-sensitive cohort study at University of Greenwich on FindAPhD.com PhD Project - Loneliness in young adulthood: a 12-year follow up in an epidemiological, genetically-sensitive cohort study at University of Greenwich, listed on FindAPhD.com

New funded PhD at the University of Greenwich 📚

Study loneliness from age 18–30 using twin data from the E-Risk Study.

Join a world-class team in London & explore how early adulthood shapes mental health.

Open to global applicants 🌍
🔗 www.findaphd.com/phds/project...
#PsychScience #fundedPhD

Hopefully we’ll get to see each other in person soon! :)

Ellen McAdams, a former lab MSc student, will be speaking in the ageing session on Thursday (11-12pm) about trauma and PTSD in middle-aged and older people.

Dr Madeleine Walpert (DementiaUK), who has teamed up with Gavin, will also be speaking about a co-produced dementia information resource.

We're looking forward to #AutismEurope later this week!

Our lab co-lead, Dr Gavin Stewart @gavrobstew.bsky.social, will be presenting a poster on Thursday, exploring sleep problems and mental health in middle-aged and older people.

Drop by and say hello!

What we do (and don't know) about autism and ageing – new research Autism is often thought of as a childhood condition, but this is far from true. Autism is a lifelong condition – and most autistic people are adults. Yet less than 1% of autism research has focused on...

Most #autism research focuses on young people, so we know very little about about the needs of autistic adults as they age, writes @gavrobstew.bsky.social in the @uk.theconversation.com.

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/what-we...

An infographic showing the estimated percentage of males and females in the UK who are likely to be autistic but undiagnosed. Middle-aged adults (age 40 to 59 years old), who make up 26% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 89%. Older adults (age 60 and older), who make up 24% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 96%

We start by raising the issue that autism in midlife and old age are often overlooked. Using data from O'Nions et al. (2023; Lancet), we estimate that 89% of middle-aged autistic people and 96% of older autistic people in the UK are likely undiagnosed.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

#AutRes

I'm very pleased that our new narrative review on autism in midlife and old age has now been published in the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology (by me and @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social).

We cover a lot of topics... more below!

Open access: doi.org/10.1146/annu...

#AutRes

Hi there, I just wanted to share this paper about life expectancy. But as Louise says, we’re really limited in our understanding because of how few older people have autism diagnoses as most are undiagnosed. Likely not 50 though & closer to average expectancy age

www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

If you'd like to hear more about our autism work, including lots on ageing and other topics, you can sign-up to the ReSpect Lab's mailing list here: forms.cloud.microsoft/e/ayFfhqc7pd

We then round off with some considerations for the future - lots and lots of work still needs to be done, particularly translational work related to supporting autistic people as they age. And of course, autistic people should be involved in that type of work.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

These topics include: (a) the trajectory of core autistic features; (b) health profiles, biological aging, and mortality; (c) influential life experiences and life outcomes; (d) cognitive function, aging, and dementia; and (e) quality of life and social support.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

Our review includes studies that involve people with autism diagnoses, and those with high autistic traits. We think this is important due to underdiagnosis of autism in midlife and old age.

We also focus on topics that the autistic community + clinicians often ask about.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

We also recap that research on older autistic people has lagged behind other age groups (from Mason et al. (2022; AiA)) - only 0.4% of autism research focuses on old age, but in recent years it has become a rapidly changing field of research.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

#AutRes

An infographic showing the estimated percentage of males and females in the UK who are likely to be autistic but undiagnosed. Middle-aged adults (age 40 to 59 years old), who make up 26% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 89%. Older adults (age 60 and older), who make up 24% of the UK's population have an overall underdiagnosis rate of 96%

We start by raising the issue that autism in midlife and old age are often overlooked. Using data from O'Nions et al. (2023; Lancet), we estimate that 89% of middle-aged autistic people and 96% of older autistic people in the UK are likely undiagnosed.

doi.org/10.1146/annu...

#AutRes

I'm very pleased that our new narrative review on autism in midlife and old age has now been published in the Annual Review of Developmental Psychology (by me and @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social).

We cover a lot of topics... more below!

Open access: doi.org/10.1146/annu...

#AutRes

The ratio gap is certainly shrinking with time and improved awareness of autism in women, girls and AFAB folk. It'll be interesting to see how ratio of new diagnoses compare in the coming years.

We based the prevalence and ratio on the rates reported in the paper our source data came from, but recent global estimate study suggests the current ratio is closer to 2:1 male-to-female.

(Sorry, character limit meant putting this in 3 posts). -3/3

We calculated these figures using a 2% autism prevalence + a 3:1 male-to-female ratio.

So while at first glance it looks like more women/AFAB folk are diagnosed than men/AMAB folk, it's actually the other way around because of the ratio. -2/3

Hi Becca, we acknowledge in the paper (just under this figure) that our calculation likely underestimates the % of undiagnosed autistic women.

As females have/are often missed, it means prevalence estimates are skewed towards males. -1/3

Estimates of the percentage of diagnosed and undiagnosed autistic people in the United Kingdom, split into age groups. 89 per cent of people age 40-59 years and 97 per cent of people age 60+ are estimated to be undiagnosed.

Large numbers of older autistic people remain undiagnosed and thus may not have the right support - new @britishacademy.bsky.social supported research by @gavrobstew.bsky.social @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social
www.kcl.ac.uk/news/up-to-9...

Around 90% of middle-aged and older autistic adults are undiagnosed in the UK / "Understanding the needs of autistic people as they age is a pressing global public health concern. As autistic people age, the nature of the challenges they face changes. We must adopt a lifespan approach that funds long-term research, integrates tailored healthcare, and expands social supports so that ageing autistic people can live happy and healthy lives." / Professor Francesca Happé, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, King’s IoPPN and Co-author

Around 90% of middle-aged and older #autistic adults are undiagnosed in the UK and face higher rates of mental and physical health conditions.

Research led by Dr Gavin Stewart & Prof Francesca Happé; funded by @britishacademy.bsky.social @nihr.bsky.social

www.maudsleybrc.nihr.ac.uk/posts/2025/a...

Around 90% of middle-aged and older autistic adults are undiagnosed in the UK, new review finds 89 to 97 per cent of autistic adults aged 40+ years are undiagnosed in the UK, according to the largest review of its kind. The review indicated that middle-aged and older autistic adults are facing h...

NEW #AUTISM RESEARCH (@gavrobstew.bsky.social + @proffrancescahappe.bsky.social): Nearly 90% of middle-aged and older #autistic adults are undiagnosed in the UK; autistic adults are facing higher rates of mental and physical health conditions as they age

www.kcl.ac.uk/news/up-to-9...

🧠 New study at KCL looking for volunteers with both #FND and #Autism to take part in an interview sharing your experiences!

- 15 minute survey followed by a 1 hour interview

Interested?
✉️ Please message me: lily.smythe@kcl.ac.uk

Thanks for sharing!

Our lab lead Dr Jessica Agnew-Blais spoke at the British Menopause Society Annual Conference last week on the links between ADHD and menopause.

It was great to hear clinicians in the room share their experiences supporting women through this often-overlooked transition 🙌 #ADHD #Menopause #bmsconf25

I really enjoyed being part of the Neurodivergence and Menopause panel at the annual meeting of the #BritishMenopauseSociety today, with Rebecca Charlton (@goldage.bsky.social) and Jess Agnew-Blais (@adhdlifecourselab.bsky.social). Lots of interesting Qs for us to ponder for our next steps!

This is a poster advertising the Autism Research Seminar Series, or ARCH. This talk is called "Creative arts-based pegagogy (CABP) with autistic students: co-producing a manifesto", and is delivered by Kayleigh Doyle, a PhD student at the University of York. The talk will take place on May 28th at 2pm on Zoom. The talk abstract reads: "In this research, I explore how autistic young people and teachers feel about using the creative arts to teach autistic students in mainstream schools, and what they perceive to be barriers and facilitators. In this talk, I will briefly touch upon the findings from two systematic reviews, before discussing the findings from two empirical studies, a teacher questionnaire and student interviews. I will finish by outlining the planned next steps, a co-production workshop with the aim to develop a co-produced "creative arts-based pedagogy manifesto"."

🚨May Talk Announcement!🚨
Join us on May 28th at 2PM to hear Kayleigh Doyle (@kayleighdoyle.bsky.social) discuss her PhD work looking at using the creative arts to teach autistic students.
Tickets are available at eventbrite.co.uk/e/arch-semin...
We hope to see you there!