'Maybe we just seem like easy targets': A qualitative analysis of autistic adults' experiences of interpersonal violence

Research has consistently shown that autistic children are more likely to be victimised than non-autistic children. More recently, studies have also found that autistic adults report experiencing more violence than non-autistic adults however the circumstances surrounding these incidents and the reasons for this are not clear. We wanted to learn more about violence during adulthood for autistic people including what led up to these incidents and what happened afterwards. We spoke to 22 autistic adults who had experienced violence and analysed what they told us to look for common themes. They told us that violence was commonplace in their own lives and in the lives of other autistic people that they know, so much so that they had even come to expect it to happen. They also talked about the negative effect these experiences had on their mental health, the way they felt about themselves and their ability to trust people. This was made worse if people did not believe them when they disclosed what had happened to them. They told us that certain autistic characteristics might make them more vulnerable like being too trusting or going along with people just to please them. They thought that some of these characteristics had been shaped by their experiences, especially being told that that their thoughts, feelings or behaviours were wrong and being pressured to change the way they behaved to 'fit in'. These findings are important in helping us to understand how to improve the personal safety of autistic people

The Foundations of Autistic Flourishing

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: All people-including Autistic people-deserve to live flourishing lives. But what does a flourishing life look like for Autistic people? We suggest that the hidden biases, methodological errors, and key assumptions of autism science have obscured answers to this question. Here, we seek to initiate a broader discussion about what the foundations for a good Autistic life might be and how this discussion might be framed. RECENT FINDINGS: We identify five ways in which autism science can help us all to secure those foundations, including by (1) giving Autistic well-being prominence in research, (2) amplifying Autistic autonomy, (3) attending better to everyday experiences, (4) acknowledging context, and (5) working in partnership with Autistic people and their families and allies to ensure that they are at the heart of research decision-making. Such an approach would direct the focus of autism research to help shape good Autistic lives

Annual Research Review: Shifting from 'normal science' to neurodiversity in autism science

Since its initial description, the concept of autism has been firmly rooted within the conventional medical paradigm of child psychiatry. Increasingly, there have been calls from the autistic community and, more recently, nonautistic researchers, to rethink the way in which autism science is framed and conducted. Neurodiversity, where autism is seen as one form of variation within a diversity of minds, has been proposed as a potential alternative paradigm. In this review, we concentrate on three major challenges to the conventional medical paradigm – an overfocus on deficits, an emphasis on the individual as opposed to their broader context and a narrowness of perspective – each of which necessarily constrains what we can know about autism and how we are able to know it. We then outline the ways in which fundamental elements of the neurodiversity paradigm can potentially help researchers respond to the medical model’s limitations. We conclude by considering the implications of a shift towards the neurodiversity paradigm for autism science

“He’s shouting so loud but nobody’s hearing him”: A multi-informant study of autistic pupils’ experiences of school non-attendance and exclusion

Background and aims: Children and young people on the autism spectrum frequently report a range of negative educational experiences and face disproportionally high rates of school non-attendance, including school avoidance and permanent exclusion, which can have a significant impact on their well-being as well as educational and broader life outcomes. To date, few studies have examined the full range of proximal (child, parent/family, school levels) and distal (community and society levels) barriers to ensuring the school attendance and the inclusion of autistic pupils. The current study sought to do just that by examining autistic young peoples’ school non-attendance and exclusion experiences from the perspectives of multiple informants. Methods: We recruited 12 autistic pupils, who had previously experienced school avoidance and/or exclusion, from one local authority in England, United Kingdom. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the young people themselves, ten of their parents, eight of their current teachers and nine local authority professionals, including six educational psychologists and three specialist autism teachers. We analyzed interviewees’ responses using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Interviewees gave overwhelmingly negative accounts of autistic pupils’ school non-attendance and exclusion experiences. Our analysis identified a range of school-related factors they felt led to, or exacerbated, negative experiences in their former mainstream schools, and which ultimately led to their or their children's school non-attendance. It also went further to identify distal factors, including fragmented educational experiences, parents “fighting” against a complex bureaucratic system to secure appropriate education for their children, and limited professional involvement. Conclusions: Our findings emphasize the importance of examining the broader context in which autistic pupils are embedded and demonstrate that such pupils are able to successfully attend—and even enjoy—school when they receive the appropriate care and support. Implications: Schools and local authority professionals should seek to work in partnership with parents and autistic pupils to secure the necessary support for their inclusion in mainstream education. Government policy should support the provision of sufficient local authority professionals to adopt a more proactive approach to mitigate autistic pupils’ avoidance of and exclusion from school

Reputation Management in Children on the Autism Spectrum

Being able to manage reputation is an important social skill, but it is unclear whether autistic children can manage reputation. This study investigated whether 33 autistic children matched to 33 typical children could implicitly or explicitly manage reputation. Further, we examined whether cognitive processes—theory of mind, social motivation, inhibitory control and reciprocity—contribute to reputation management. Results showed that neither group implicitly managed reputation, and there was no group difference in explicit reputation management. Results suggested different mechanisms contribute to reputation management in these groups—social motivation in typical children and reciprocity in autistic children. Explicit reputation management is achievable for autistic children, and there are individual differences in its relationship to underlying cognitive processes

Predicting the financial wellbeing of autistic adults: Part I

Many autistic adults are likely to experience poor financial wellbeing and hardship due to unemployment and under-employment. Research in the general population demonstrates that subjective financial wellbeing—how people perceive their financial situation—influences quality of life. There is no research, however, examining the subjective financial wellbeing of autistic people. This study therefore aimed to (1) understand the subjective financial wellbeing of a sample of autistic adults living in Australia compared to a general Australian population sample and (2) identify the predictors of subjective financial wellbeing in this sample of autistic adults. To this end, 191 autistic adults aged 18–83 years (mean = 39.28, standard deviation = 11.74) completed an online survey about their economic status, financial wellbeing, financial behaviors, confidence in money management skills, and anxiety and depression symptoms. Almost half of our sample felt it was a struggle to make ends meet, whereas only one-third of the general Australian population felt this way. Similar to the general population, autistic people’s income and their financial behaviors (specifically, saving and not borrowing for everyday expenses) predicted their sense of financial wellbeing. Our findings have implications for both research and practice. Lay abstract: Researchers have found the way people feel about their financial situation is related to their quality of life. We know that many autistic people find it hard to find a job. And for those autistic people who have a job, they are often underpaid. Not having a job or being underpaid often means having low income. Having low income is likely to influence how autistic people feel about their financial situation. However, no research has looked at these issues for autistic people. This is the first study that helps us learn more about what autistic adults think about their financial situation. We looked at autistic people’s thoughts on this issue compared to people from the general Australian population. We also looked at what things might impact how autistic people feel about their financial situation—which might be how much money they earn, what they do with that money, and their mental health. Many autistic adults felt they were struggling with financial wellbeing and this was connected both to the level of their income and how they said they managed their money. Those who were able to save and not borrow for everyday expenses reported feeling a greater sense of financial wellbeing. Concrete changes might help to improve autistic people’s financial wellbeing. We need to investigate how we can help autistic people find and keep well-paying jobs. And we need to work out the best ways of equipping autistic people with the skills they need in financial matters

Autistic adults' experiences of financial wellbeing: Part II

Financial wellbeing is an important component of people’s overall wellbeing, reflecting the capacity to live a comfortable and fulfilling life. Yet virtually nothing is known about this topic for autistic people. This study addressed this gap using a two-phase sequential mixed-methods design. Here, we report on findings from the Phase 2 qualitative study. In this study, 21 autistic participants were purposively selected based on the status of their financial wellbeing, including 12 people with high, and 9 with low, financial wellbeing, and interviewed by an autistic researcher. We identified four themes through reflective thematic analysis. Having access to a stable income made an enormous difference to people’s financial wellbeing. Participants emphasised how their broader social supports, especially family support, shaped their financial wellbeing. Yet, planning financially was often challenging, especially for people who had insufficient money to meet their basic needs. Nevertheless, our participants reported a strong drive to stay in control and avoid unnecessary risk. Our findings revealed how much money matters in autistic people’s lives. Future research should investigate the ways in which autistic people could secure more reliable incomes and identify the most effective ways to support them to achieve financial resilience

The effects of grouping on speed discrimination thresholds in adults, typically developing children, and children with autism.

Adult observers show elevated speed discrimination thresholds when comparing the speeds of objects moving across a boundary compared to those moving parallel to a boundary (Verghese &amp; McKee, 2006)-an effect that has been attributed to grouping processes in conjunction with a prior for smooth motion. Here, we extended Verghese and McKee's (2006) paradigm to typically developing children (n = 35) and children with autism (n = 26) and compared their performance with that of typical adults (n = 19). Speed discrimination thresholds were measured in three conditions: (a) with dots moving parallel to a boundary, (b) with dots moving perpendicular to a boundary, and (c) with dots in each stimulus half moving in orthogonal, oblique directions. As expected, participants had higher speed discrimination thresholds when dots appeared to cross a boundary compared to when dots moved parallel to the boundary. However, participants had even higher thresholds when dots moved in oblique, orthogonal directions, where grouping should be minimal. All groups of participants showed a similar pattern of performance across conditions although children had higher thresholds than adult participants overall. We consider various explanations for the pattern of performance obtained, including enhanced sensitivity for shearing motions and reduced sensitivity for discriminating different directions. Our results demonstrate that the speed discrimination judgments of typically developing children and children with autism are similarly affected by spatial configuration as those of typical adults and provide further evidence that speed discrimination is unimpaired in children with autism.</p

Perspectives from parents of autistic children on participating in early intervention and associated research

Early support should help autistic children lead flourishing lives. We sought to understand parents’ experiences of their children’s involvement in early intervention and associated research, through focus groups with 23 parents (of 22 children) enrolled in a university-affiliated service. Reflexive thematic analysis revealed four themes. Parents conveyed a strong sense of gratitude (Theme 1) arising from their perceptions of the importance of early intervention and feelings of having ‘hit the jackpot’ to secure access to the service from which they perceived their children ‘gained so much’. They valued the service and staff expertise which made them feel secure (Theme 2). University affiliation and the associated research also contributed to parents’ sense of safety, from perceived ‘accountability’ and ‘integrity’. Parents conveyed deep commitment to the service (Theme 3) but shared often-negative experiences as their child’s enrolment came to an end (Theme 4) and they expressed feelings of abandonment and disempowerment, being confronted with the reality of needing to secure next-stage support for their children and of perceived critical need for ‘conversion of research into practice’. These parents’ accounts offer insights into the benefits and ongoing challenges of achieving truly effective supports for autistic preschoolers and their families. Lay abstract: Support for autistic children early in life should help them to lead flourishing lives. However, many of the early intervention programmes for young autistic children are time-consuming and costly for families. These programmes are also often conducted in settings that are not closely matched to real life. We spoke to 23 parents (of 22 autistic children) to understand their experiences of their children’s involvement in early intervention. Parents told us they were grateful for the opportunity, that they had ‘hit the jackpot’, and their children had ‘gained so much’ from the programme. They seemed to value the service because it made them feel safe and secure during an uncertain time in their children’s lives. Parents told us they trusted staff, felt that they weren’t ‘doing it alone’, and this ‘took that pressure off’ and helped them feel empowered. They also spoke of feelings of safety from being linked to the university research programme which offered ‘accountability’ and ‘integrity’. Parents’ comments showed a strong commitment to the early intervention model and staff – but also common feelings of abandonment and disempowerment as their child’s time with the programme came to an end and they went ‘back to the real world’ and needed to find new supports for their children. These parents’ insights should help to inform the design and delivery of community supports for preschool-aged autistic children and their families, which match the reality of their lived experiences