Why is most Autism literature concerned with children?

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Browsing my local library all the books on Autism I could find relate to children with the condition, mostly advice on how parents can diagnose their kids and support them post diagnosis, and browsing the Internet the majority of the material I've discovered also seems to be fairly similar.

Why?

I don't like being given the impression that the only people who really care about Autism are concerned parents and that its only children with Autism who matter. Last time I checked when we turn 18 we don't suddenly stop being Autistic.

I've also noticed that, i have 2 books on autism: The Complete Guide to Aspergers and Understanding Autism for dummies, both aimed towards parents with autistic children however there is a small chapter for adults with autism.

I think its because autism is a 'new' diagnoses, most people getting diagnosed now is children, even for me, i was born in 1997 and no one knew a thing about autism, so now that theres more parents seeking out diagnoses for their children, theres also more books about parents with children on the spectrum. That being said, im not saying there are no diagnosed adults, theres just a hell of a lot less than there is children.

We are just starting to get material on kids transitioning to young adults. Outside of the UK and a few other places older adult autism is basically not recognized. We are an inconvenient truth for the autism advocacy organizations arguing for a cure or and those arguing autistics are horrible mutations caused by vaccines. Central to both viewpoints is the idea there is massive autism epidemic. If it is recognized we were always here but just not recognized it would hurt their argument. Also their is economics as we are at the end of the career cycle and thus perceived as being out of touch and our health problems costly. Their is massive age discrimination in employment for these reasons.

Three reasons instantly sprang to mind:

1) I suspect it is more about ageism than lack of awareness
2) Treating children is where the big money is, and the providers are following the money trail
3) The promotion of autism almost solely as a problem for parents is pushed relentlessly by A$ and similar outfits, and they too are following the money trail (and how)

Because autism is developmental, and childhood development is really important.

The fact that it's a new-ish diagnosis is probably a huge factor. ADHD and especially sensory processing disorder have the same problem. I've found exactly one good book on sensory defensiveness in adults, and sure enough, there was a one-star review from someone without sensory issues complaining that the book didn't help her handle her SPD kid like she expected. (The cover and product description of the book clearly indicate that it is for adults.) Every other SPD-related book is about kids, but she wasn't okay with us adults having even one book for us. Sometimes it's it feels like these jerks don't care what happens to their kid after age 18.

But resources are another thing.

Autistic adults looking for help for themselves are probably looking for help because they're impaired by their symptoms. Sure, not everyone with autism traits is impaired, but the successful unimpaired people aren't looking for help and probably aren't even diagnosed. Among those of us who are impaired and looking for help, a lot of us have very little money to spend on treatment, we don't have the knowledge to write a self-help book for other people like us, and we don't have the resources to campaign for societal change. I can barely do my laundry!

But when autistic children are impaired by their symptoms, it's their parents who go looking for help, and sometimes those parents are successful reasonably well-off people. They can spend money on books and treatments. They can form support groups. They can write books for people like themselves. They can write letters to congressmen and cause a hassle for school psychiatrists. And they'll still get their laundry done somehow!

That could be a reason if people we

Too me it's a parenting problem in the current approach, which I can heardly understand, but the parenting problem is a societal problem.
I recall my little brother, who was a real little professor when little, always reading, comics before he could read but who couldn't be bothered getting toilet-trained. That didn't worry the parents a bit, only we siblings thought it was embarrassing.
My dd did from early days often spread her arms when picked up, as in fear of falling, that made me think that looked autistic, as she shocked out of her innerworld with a reflex of fright.
But that's not a criterium for autism? On the other hand it's a bit disgusting how autism is pushed to beeing a disorder or disease. NT's come with all possible impairments also.
my two cents;

Sensory processing disorder, has a site but no wiki?
oho the wiki only names that thing in a foundation, and there you go, taxfree money(loopholes for the rich) to propagate whatever they want!

I think it's because there's a push to start treatment on children as early as possible. To quote Temple Grandin, "Early intervention is key."

It's not just autism literature that is centred on children, there's a vast array of literature for, about and concerned with children in general.

Western society has a sinister preoccupation with children, to the extent that a whole industry - the Child Industry - has grown up around it, generating income for anyone who shares this unwholesome fixation. We're getting to the point where you need a Masters in paediatrics and government permission to pronounce the word 'children' in public.

Yes, and might I add to this that parents and caregivers have control over children, legally and morally. The people looking at helping books are trying to get any understanding about someone else, especially someone who might not be communicative due to age and disability. Whereas to read a book about something that you have, that's a little different. You already know who you are, you probably know better than a lot of books how to help yourself. There's hope for kids to change and grow, not really for adults, and there's a responsibility placed on caregivers to look after their own kids, whereas people who cannot look after themselves, as adults, they're no one individual's concern.

I've noted this to myself, and have commented both privately and publicly. I understand there's a real need for parents to understand and help their autistic children. At the same time, it's enormously frustrating to start reading a promising autism study on sites like Science Daily only to find that the subjects of the study are children and teens.

It would be helpful to see more studies on how adults react and cope with life's challenges.

It's a catch-22. I can try and draw conclusions or theories based on wrong planet, social media etc because it's the only thing out there. But many will say it's not peer reviewed thus invalid. If I draw no conclusions because it's invalid I am clueless and can't help myself or others.

There are a lot of studies of autistic adults in the literature.
Adults are verry merry berry popular to study, because they can do more complex tasks than children for more trials that are needed to discover interesting patterns.

I'm not saying you're wrong, but I seldom see these studies. Where are you finding them? When I search sites like Science Daily, about 90% or more of them seem to be focused entirely on children.

The thing is, when so much of the literature on Autism is centered around kids it helps propagate the notion that this is child-centric issue. Which disenfranchises adult suffers the attention they deserve.