Autism in the Adult

By: Theresa M Regan Ph.D.
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  • Summary

  • Theresa Regan, Ph.D., is a rare combination of adult neuropsychologist (specialist in brain-behavior relationships), parent of an amazing child on the autism spectrum, and certified autism specialist with the IBCCES. She is deeply grateful to bring validation, hope, and purpose to individuals and their families living on the autism spectrum. With this mission at its core, she founded and directs the OSF HealthCare Adult Diagnostic Autism Clinic in central Illinois. Her books include Understanding Autism in Adults and Aging Adults and Understanding Autistic Behaviors. For more information and to join her new online autism community for free visit www.adultandgeriatricautism.com. Join her for podcast topics related to autism in the adult. The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of her employer. All listeners are encouraged to research multiple opinions about the topics discussed before making their own decisions.
    Copyright 2020 All rights reserved.
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Episodes
  • The Lifespan of a Household: Shared Living Space (EP 66)

    The Lifespan of a Household: Shared Living Space (EP 66)
    Sep 8 2024
    Join Dr. Regan for this third episode in the "Lifespan of a Household" series. This episode highlights topics important to living in shared space, including the sensory environment, alone time, and control over objects. Also, check out links to resources on her website and a transcript of the episode below. Autism in the Adult website Resources for professionals Video Visits Video Courses Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining me for this third episode in our series on autism and the lifespan of a household. My name is Dr. Theresa Regan, and I'm your host. I'm a neuropsychologist, a certified autism specialist, and mom to a young adult on the spectrum. This series is the result of listener requests about living as a couple or as a family within a shared household. And as we've touched on, one of the challenges of tackling the topic is that households can take so many different forms. And I know that I can't do them all justice in just one series, but I wanted to touch on some important life seasons within a household. So our first episode was about dating, and the second covered the topic of physical intimacy and relationships. And today we're going to talk about sharing physical space with other people. So joining households, living in the same space. I'll also let you know that a lot of my website renovations have been completed. There are still some things I'm tweaking and trying to make work better, but lots of the pages are active and working. And I also now have the new service of video visits for people to consult me about the topic of autism or how that impacts you in your household. There are some geographic limitations and there are some specifics about payment and if you are interested in that type of service head on over to my website at adultandgeriatricautism.com and look under video visits. So there are many different instances where physical space might be shared in a type of household. So we may be talking about a traditional couple or a family household or even other situations like having roommates or renting a portion of someone else's home. And sharing living space can be complex for lots of reasons, but for the autistic, there may be a few specific challenges that we could cover in the episode today that would help people navigate those things. So in particular, we're going to cover the sensory environment, alone time, and having control over objects. So let's tackle the sensory environment first. First, because the autistic individual may have sensory sensitivities, living in the household with other people may be overwhelming because people bump into each other or reach over each other or they brush against each other to navigate the physical space. Noise can be another sensory input that's elevated in a household, and the noise could include voices, babies crying, arguments, even just surround noise like television or music. How things smell can be important to someone on the spectrum. The scent of food cooking or aftershave, candles, cigarettes, cleaning products, taste and texture can come into play if we're talking about shared groceries or family meals, does everyone have to eat the same thing? Let's not forget about visual inputs. So not only does this include lighting, but a very common issue that I hear about is concern for the visual space or having visual chaos. So for some on the spectrum, the sight of a visual messiness or overcrowdedness or chaos can be overwhelming. And this could include things like decorations, messy work areas, things on the floor, clothes, garbage, food, strewn about various surfaces. And this visual chaos can feel overwhelming. Now, before you start laughing because you've seen someone's space and you know that they're not concerned about visual chaos, that's true. Not everyone on the spectrum will have the same sensory processing feature. And neither will everyone who is neurotypical. So people in the household will have different preferences. Many people on the spectrum may have very little care for the visual cleanliness or organization of their space except for a few specific things. So maybe they have very significant care about where their favorite objects are placed or how things are lined up, but other things are strewn over the floor and there's not much care at all. The more people there are in the household, the more mix there will be of habits and preferences and clash with the habits and preferences of others. Another complicating factor is that as people age across life seasons, their sensory processing and preferences can also change. So you have not only complexity, but you have this multifaceted, always changing sensory sensory environment, and sensory preferences across multiple people within the same shared living space. So that is a moving, dynamic, complex kind of issue. Now, one of the best ways to start addressing this is what we've talked about in multiple other episodes, And that is self-awareness. So that's that ...
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    26 mins
  • The Lifespan of a Household: Physical Intimacy in Relationships (EP 65)

    The Lifespan of a Household: Physical Intimacy in Relationships (EP 65)
    Aug 18 2024

    Dr. Regan continues the series about the lifespan of a relationship and/or household. The first episode focused on dating relationships, and this second episode focuses on sexual intimacy in relationships with an autistic partner.

    Dr. Regan's Resources:

    Empowered Parenting

    Zur Institute courses for clinicians

    Understanding Autism in Adults and Aging Adults, 2nd ed

    Audiobook

    Book: Understanding Autistic Behaviors

    Autism in the Adult website homepage

    Website Resources for Clinicians
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    25 mins
  • The Lifespan of a Household: Dating (EP 64)

    The Lifespan of a Household: Dating (EP 64)
    Jul 28 2024

    Dr. Regan begins a new series about the lifespan of a relationship and/or household. This first episode focuses on dating relationships. The episode provides practical insights and strategies to help you make informed and intentional choices in your relationships, ensuring they are fulfilling and sustainable for both partners.

    Dr. Regan's Resources:

    Empowered Parenting

    Zur Institute courses for clinicians

    Understanding Autism in Adults and Aging Adults, 2nd ed

    Audiobook

    Book: Understanding Autistic Behaviors

    Autism in the Adult website homepage

    Website Resources for Clinicians
    Show more Show less
    26 mins

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Profile Image for DF

So informative!

As a clinician for those with autism, I appreciate the wide variety of topics addressed for adulthood in this podcast. There are many resources for individuals on the spectrum in childhood but not enough for the rest of the lifespan so thank you, Dr. Regan, for offering this opportunity that is easily accessible for parents, clinicians, and clients!

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Profile Image for Michele M Newman

Very Knowledgeable for Non-Neurodivergent

Was diagnosed an Autistic Savant age 60. This book explains most of my life actions

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Profile Image for Wendy Cox

Excellent information on autism

I have yet to listen to one of her podcasts and not learn something new. Much appreciated by a late not yet diagnosed Audhd woman.

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