Autism in adulthood : challenges and management最新文献

{"title":"Brief Report: An Exploration of Alexithymia in Autistic and Nonautistic Transgender Adults.","authors":"Aimilia Kallitsounaki, David M Williams","doi":"10.1089/aut.2022.0113","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2022.0113","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Research has shown that many autistic people have alexithymia, a psychological trait characterized by difficulties in identifying and describing emotions. It is also now clear that there is a high rate of autism among transgender people, but we know little about the intersection of autism and gender diversity or about the clinical features of autistic transgender individuals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Seventy-eight nonautistic transgender, 56 autistic transgender, 106 nonautistic cisgender, and 107 autistic cisgender adults completed the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 and the Autism-spectrum Quotient as part of an online study. We also used the General Alexithymia Factor Score-8 as an additional alexithymia score.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found that nonautistic transgender participants reported significantly higher mean levels of alexithymia than nonautistic cisgender participants, and that there was a significant overrepresentation of individuals in this group who met the clinical cutoff for alexithymia. The difference in alexithymia between autistic cisgender and autistic transgender participants was nonsignificant, with >50% of each group scoring above the clinical cutoff point. Of note, when we used the General Alexithymia Factor Score-8, the difference between autistic transgender participants and autistic cisgender participants was significant, with autistic transgender participants reporting higher mean levels of alexithymia.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Results suggest that nonautistic transgender individuals might be more prone to experience alexithymia (including at clinically significant levels) than nonautistic cisgender people. When autism occurs in transgender people, the average level and clinical rate of alexithymia is higher than among nonautistic transgender people and potentially higher than among autistic cisgender people. Our findings are in keeping with evidence of a subgroup of transgender people with \"subclinical autism\" and inconsistent with the notion that autism among transgender and gender diverse people is a \"phenomimic\" of autism. Lastly, our study highlights the potential importance of screening autistic and nonautistic transgender people for alexithymia.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"210-216"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280221/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9712107","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"What Category Best Fits: Understanding Transgender Identity in a Survey of Autistic Individuals.","authors":"Hillary Steinberg, Tamara Garfield, Alec Becker, Lindsay Shea","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0079","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2021.0079","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Calls for improved measures of gender identity to understand the experience of transgender individuals have grown rapidly in the past 5 years. The need for methodological innovation in this topic area has particular importance for the autistic population since a higher co-occurrence of transgender identities among autistic people has been documented but is not well understood. We use a survey with questions that reflect standards in 2018 to demonstrate how binary conceptualizations of gender did not adequately capture gender identities of transgender autistic individuals.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Using descriptive statistics from a statewide survey of 1527 autistic adults (mean age 27.5 years), this study compared self-reported survey responses to close-ended standard questions at the time about gender identity to understand shortcomings in capturing this population authentically.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We found a mismatch between respondents answering that they were transgender, the sex assigned at birth, and gender identity on separate questions. We postulate that transgender men and women were likely selecting binary responses when asked about gender identity. Furthermore, we found that many qualitative responses reported in the self-selected \"other\" category reflected nonbinary identities and utilized specific terminology that revealed nuance in how they understood gender identities.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>We urge researchers to provide multiple flexible options when measuring gender identity in autistic populations as they are likely to encompass many identities. We endorse best practices for measuring gender identity for autistic research.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"204-209"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280170/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9712109","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Quantitative Analysis of Narrative Discourse by Autistic Adults of Underrepresented Genders.","authors":"Kelly L Coburn, Diane L Williams","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0080","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2021.0080","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Narrative production is an important part of the diagnostic process for autism. Most existing research on narrative production by autistic people has focused on cisgender men and boys. Members of other genders (i.e., nonbinary people, transgender men, and trans and cisgender women) are underrepresented in the research literature. Research with non-autistic adults consistently reports gender differences in narrative production. When adults whose genders are underrepresented seek autism diagnosis as adults, they may be misdiagnosed due to misconceptions about autistic communication that are based on cisgender male speakers.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twenty autistic adults of various genders each told four narratives: two based on a picture and two about their personal experiences. Dependent variables measured narrative length, grammatical complexity, vocabulary diversity, filled pauses, and internal state terms. Researchers used nonparametric statistics to compare groups of (1) cisgender men and all other participants, (2) participants assigned male at birth and those assigned female, and (3) self-identified women, nonbinary people, and men.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Women used significantly less diverse vocabulary than men. Women used more terms to refer to internal states than both nonbinary people and men, but this finding was not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. All other comparisons were not statistically significant.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Autistic narrators of diverse genders have more linguistic similarities than differences. Autistic women may be more likely to talk about emotions and other internal states than autistic men. Gender-based expectations for spoken communication about internal states should be carefully reconsidered. More research is necessary to determine whether the results of this small study will generalize to larger samples of autistic people whose genders are currently underrepresented in the research literature.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"154-164"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280195/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9712110","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Life As a Sapiosexual Autist.","authors":"Jack Pemment","doi":"10.1089/aut.2022.0120","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2022.0120","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"125-126"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280189/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10058997","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Gender-Diversity and Autism Questionnaire: A Community-Developed Clinical, Research, and Self-Advocacy Tool for Autistic Transgender and Gender-Diverse Young Adults.","authors":"John F Strang, Lucy S McClellan, Daphne Raaijmakers, Reid Caplan, Sascha E Klomp, Mindy Reutter, Meng-Chuan Lai, Minneh Song, Finn V Gratton, Laura K Dale, Anouschka Schutte, Annelou L C de Vries, Finn Gardiner, Laura Edwards-Leeper, Amélie Lune Minnaard, Niki Lou Eleveld, Endever Corbin, Yenn Purkis, Wenn Lawson, Da-Young Kim, Isa M van Wieringen, Victoria M Rodríguez-Roldán, Marvel C Harris, Madeline F Wilks, Gee Abraham, Anouk Balleur-van Rijn, Lydia X Z Brown, Alexandra Forshaw, Gary B Wilks, April Dawn Griffin, Elizabeth K Graham, Sandy Krause, Noor Pervez, Inge A Bok, Amber Song, Abigail L Fischbach, Anna I R van der Miesen","doi":"10.1089/aut.2023.0002","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2023.0002","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Autistic transgender people face unique risks in society, including inequities in accessing needed care and related mental health disparities. Given the need for specific and culturally responsive accommodations/supports, the characterization of key experiences, challenges, needs, and resilience factors within this population is imperative. This study developed a structured self-report tool for autistic transgender young adults to communicate their experiences and needs in a report format attuned to common autistic thinking and communication styles.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>This cross-nation project developed and refined the Gender-Diversity and Autism Questionnaire through an iterative community-based approach using Delphi panel methodology. This proof-of-principle project defined \"expertise\" broadly, employing a multi-input expert search approach to balance academic-, community-, and lived experience-based expertise.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The expert collaborators (<i>N</i> = 24 respondents) completed a two-round Delphi study, which developed 85 mostly closed-ended items based on 90% consensus. Final item content falls within six topic areas: <i>the experience of identities; the impact of experienced or anticipated discrimination, bias, and violence toward autistic people and transgender people; tasks and experiences of everyday life; gender diversity- or autism-related care needs and history; the experience of others doubting an individual's gender identity and/or autism;</i> and <i>the experience of community and connectedness.</i> The majority of retained items relate to tasks and experiences of everyday life or the impact of experienced or anticipated discrimination, bias, and violence.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study employed a multipronged multimodal search approach to maximize equity in representation of the expert measure development team. The resulting instrument, designed for clinical, research, and self-advocacy applications, has parallel Dutch and English versions and is available for immediate use. Future cross-cultural research with this instrument could help identify contextual risk and resilience factors to better understand and address inequities faced by this large intersectional population.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"175-190"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280183/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9712114","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"<i>My whole life has been a process of finding labels that fit</i>\": A Thematic Analysis of Autistic LGBTQIA+ Identity and Inclusion in the LGBTQIA+ Community.","authors":"Christine McAuliffe, Reubs J Walsh, Eilidh Cage","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0074","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2021.0074","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Being nonheterosexual and noncisgender appears to be more common among autistic people. This intersection of identities is often stigmatized in research and society. However, we know that community involvement can protect against negative mental health outcomes associated with being a minority; researchers found this effect in separate studies examining participation in the autistic and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer, Intersex, Asexual plus other gender and sexual orientation-based identity (LGBTQIA+) communities. This study examined how autistic LGBTQIA+ individuals navigate their multiple marginalized identities and the LGBTQIA+ community.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Twelve autistic LGBTQIA+ people from the United Kingdom took part in semistructured interviews. Questions focused on identity and community. We analyzed the interviews using reflexive thematic analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified four overarching themes-Identity (Re)Development, Navigating Authenticity, Exclusion from Community Spaces, and Creating Change. Participants viewed accessing a community of similar others as a means of increasing understanding, self-knowledge, and self-acceptance. We identified several barriers to inclusion, including accessibility and gatekeeping. Participants discussed strategies to combat these obstacles, such as the creation of intersectional community spaces and activism and representation as a means of increasing autism understanding.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study suggests that similar to other marginalized groups, autistic LGBTQIA+ individuals are motivated to engage in communities relevant to their identities. However, community spaces for autistic LGBTQIA+ are often inaccessible due to social, sensory, and identity-based barriers. Participants highlighted autism understanding as a barrier to coming out both in community and noncommunity settings. This suggests that improving autism acceptance and understanding is crucial to achieve accessible, intersectional, and inclusive community spaces.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 2","pages":"127-138"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10280209/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9712112","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"\"I'm the Family Ringmaster and Juggler\": Autistic Parents' Experiences of Parenting During the COVID-19 Pandemic.","authors":"Melanie Heyworth, Simon Brett, Jacquiline den Houting, Iliana Magiati, Robyn Steward, Anna Urbanowicz, Marc Stears, Elizabeth Pellicano","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0097","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2021.0097","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Little is known about autistic parenthood. The literature that exists suggests that autistic parents can find it difficult to manage the everyday demands of parenting and domestic life. While emerging research has also highlighted more positive parenting experiences, greater understanding of autistic parenthood is needed.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This study sought to understand autistic parents' parenting experiences during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Thirty-five Australian autistic parents (95% women) of autistic children (aged 4-25 years) took part in semi-structured interviews designed to elicit their experiences of life during lockdown. We used reflexive thematic analysis using an inductive (bottom-up) approach to identify patterned meanings within the data set.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Autistic parents repeatedly spoke of how the lockdown brought some initial relief from the intensity of their usual lives caring for their children. Nevertheless, most autistic parents felt that the \"cumulative stress\" of trying to juggle everything during lockdown proved very challenging, which eventually took its toll on parents' mental health. Parents were aware that they needed support but found it difficult to reach out to their usual social supports (including autistic friends) for help, and formal supports were virtually nonexistent. Consequently, they felt \"very much forgotten.\" Nevertheless, they described how their connections with their children grew stronger over lockdown as they focused on nurturing their children's \"mental health ahead of everything else.\"</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our analysis shows how challenging conventional life can be for autistic parents. Parenting requires grappling with a distinctive set of demands, which are usually partially manageable through the informal supports many autistic parents draw upon. The relative absence of informal supports during the pandemic, however, left them reliant on more formal supports, which were not forthcoming. Research is urgently needed to identify the most effective formal supports for autistic parents, ideally in partnership with autistic parents themselves.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 1","pages":"24-36"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024268/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9156217","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Building Neurodiversity-Inclusive Postsecondary Campuses: Recommendations for Leaders in Higher Education.","authors":"Patrick Dwyer,&nbsp;Erica Mineo,&nbsp;Kristin Mifsud,&nbsp;Chris Lindholm,&nbsp;Ava Gurba,&nbsp;T C Waisman","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0042","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0042","url":null,"abstract":"Neurodivergent people are increasingly involved in postsecondary education, but they continue to face serious barriers and challenges on college campuses. These challenges are not only related to disability functional differences and accommodation needs, but also to stigma and prejudice toward neurodivergent people. Con-sequently, neurodivergent people are less successful than neurotypical peers; moreover, intersections between neurodivergence and other marginalized groups are associated with even greater inequities. This article was written by neurodivergent students and researchers, and their allies, who suggest a system-wide approach is needed to promote inclusion of neurodivergent students, staff, and faculty on postsecondary campuses. Specific recommendations, based on those the authors suggested to and that were endorsed by the University of California Academic Senate, are provided. These recommendations include diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI)-oriented reforms (viewing neurodiversity through a DEI lens; establishing Disability Cultural Centers; providing campus-wide neurodiversity training; and fostering neurodivergent leadership in neurodiversity initiatives). Other recommendations address disability accommodations and supports (integrating disability accommodations in one place; making eligibility requirements less onerous; recognizing and accommodating sensory distress and distraction; establishing programs to facilitate transitions in and out of postsecondary; improving mental health support; and creating mechanisms to resolve issues where students are denied ac-commodations). Finally, further recommendations address accessibility of communication (respecting students’ decisions to involve support people; and offering neurodivergent people the option to choose accessible modalities for communicating with instructors and staff and for taking classes). Institutions that embrace these reforms have an opportunity to position themselves as neurodiversity inclusion leaders and destination campuses for neurodivergent people. attention-deficit/hyperactivity","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 1","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://ftp.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pub/pmc/oa_pdf/11/96/aut.2021.0042.PMC10024274.pdf","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9163566","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Love, Joy, and a Lens of Childhood Trauma: Exploring Factors That Impact the Mental Health and Well-Being of Autistic Parents via Iterative Phenomenological Analysis.","authors":"Simone Smit, Jeremy Hopper","doi":"10.1089/aut.2021.0101","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2021.0101","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>The autistic community have called for an increase in autism research exploring the lifespan experiences of autistic people. Researchers have notably neglected the parenting experiences of autistic adults. We aimed to study the factors that impact the mental health of autistic parents. We also explored the possible influence of childhood trauma.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Nine autistic parents took part in remote semi-structured interviews. We used participants' chosen communication modalities during interviews to facilitate accessibility. We carried out data analysis using the principles of Iterative Phenomenological Analysis, a qualitative approach where meaning is co-constructed by both the participant's interpretation of their personal experience and the researcher's subjective interpretation.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>We identified three superordinate themes: Identity and Purpose; Looking Through a Lens of Trauma; and External Factors. Our participants described intimate connections with their children, who were sources of love and joy. Their childhood trauma influenced their parenting experiences. They experienced extreme empathy, perfectionism, and a drive to protect their children from the same trauma. We found that professionals' acceptance and awareness of autism was essential for positive outcomes during interactions with participants. Participants also experienced pervasive sensory overload from their environments, related to a loss of trusted coping mechanisms when they became parents.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Our study draws attention to the influence of childhood trauma on the parenting experience of autistic adults. We reveal an unexplored long-term impact of childhood trauma resulting from a lack of support and othering of autistic children. Professionals should consider that autistic parents may be parenting through a lens of historical trauma. Professionals should be trained in trauma-informed approaches for providing support. Researchers should investigate this phenomenon to explore how this knowledge can be used to inform practise. Researchers should also investigate wider systemic and societal issues that have an impact on the mental health of autistic parents.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 1","pages":"63-75"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9163567","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Being, Knowing, and Doing: Importing Theoretical Toolboxes for Autism Studies.","authors":"Hanna Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Monique Botha, Kristien Hens, Sarinah O'Donoghue, Amy Pearson, Anna Stenning","doi":"10.1089/aut.2022.0021","DOIUrl":"10.1089/aut.2022.0021","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The aim of this article was to think with and elaborate on theories developed outside of autism research and the autistic community, and through this support the production of new autistic-led theories: theories and concepts based on autistic people's own embodied experiences and the social worlds we inhabit. The article consists of three different sections all of part of the overall umbrella, <i>Being, knowing, and doing: Importing theoretical toolboxes for autism studies</i>. In each section, we import useful concepts from elsewhere and tailor them to autism studies. Throughout, we mingle our own autoethnographic accounts and shared discourse in relation to research accounts and theories. Illustrating <i>being</i>, we explore and discuss the possibilities of critical realism in autism studies. Illustrating <i>knowing</i>, we explore and discuss the possibilities of standpoint theory in autism studies. Finally, illustrating <i>doing</i>, we explore and discuss the possibilities of neurocosmopolitics including epistemic (in)justice in autism studies. Our proposal here is for an epistemic shift toward neurodiverse collaboration. We are inviting nonautistic people to work <i>with</i>, not <i>on</i>, us, aiming at to make autism research more ethical, breaking down bureaucratic structures, and questioning poor theory and shoddy methodology. Acknowledging intersecting axes of oppression in which an individual seeks to renegotiate and reimagine what it means to belong also means to understand what needs changing in society, as it is and how we might do things differently.</p>","PeriodicalId":72338,"journal":{"name":"Autism in adulthood : challenges and management","volume":"5 1","pages":"15-23"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10024257/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9163561","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}