Abstract
This chapter describes the families of adolescents and adults with autism. There is a vast amount of uncharted territory about the patterns of development in people with autism beyond the childhood period and even more uncharted territory, regarding the impacts of parenting an adolescent or adult with autism. A brief description of the major features of autism, with particular emphasis on the characteristics of people with autism that are most challenging for parents and other caregivers, is discussed in the chapter. It is found that higher rates of social deficits exist in siblings of individuals with autism as compared to siblings of individuals with Down syndrome. It is observed that cognitive disorders were more prevalent in siblings of children with autism compared to a group of siblings of children with Down syndrome. The longitudinal study of 28 mothers of children with autism found significant differences in maternal depression, favoring the 14 mothers, who participated in an intervention program designed to facilitate child learning and manage difficult behavior.