Autism, Neurodivergence, Lived Experience, Health and Inclusion — What’s New in July
This month's research roundup from Ann Memmott highlights a diverse collection of new studies and resources exploring Neurodivergence across health, communication, support, and lived experience. Topics include Neurodivergent-friendly counselling, positive emotions in Autism research, synaesthesia, semi-speaking communication, sensory needs, health inequalities, Autistic perspectives on interventions, aging, creativity, and ethical questions in research involving Autistic young people.
Making counselling Neurodivergent-friendlier
Most counsellors seek to do a kind and professional job for all of their clients. Some may not yet be aware of the information they need, and what can help. This research does much to guide and support anyone wanting to do their best for Neurodivergent people, in this field.
Neurodivergent individuals face substantial environmental and communication difficulties when accessing counselling services. The majority of these clients report sensory sensitivities and accessibility barriers that impact their ability to engage in treatment. This community perspective integrates current evidence-based research with lived experience to provide practical guidance for supporting neurodivergent needs. Recommendations address how counsellors can modify their practices and physical spaces to reduce anxiety, support diverse processing styles, and honour neurodivergent ways of being rather than requiring conformity to neurotypical norms. Many proposed modifications require minimal financial investment and can be implemented by individual counsellors regardless of organizational constraints, making neurodivergent-affirming care accessible even within resource-limited settings.
Cominotti, A., & Green, C. (2026). An evidence-based and lived experience approach to improving therapeutic environments for neurodivergent clients. Health Services Insights, 19, 11786329261465576. https://doi.org/10.1177/11786329261465576
Which positive emotions have been researched, for Autistic people?
Moreno and team take a look at past research into Autistic people’s emotions, and which positive ones have been researched. Out of the 72 research papers that were selected, 36 studied happiness, 9 studied amusement, 7 studied pride, 2 studied joy, and 2 studied compassion. None had studied ‘…admiration, awe, contentment, elation, gratitude, hope, inspiration, love, relief, serenity or triumph’.
Nearly all of the wider Autism research focuses on negative emotions, they note.
It seems to me that we can do a lot better than this, if our aim is to improve quality of life and affirm the humanity and dignity of all.
Moreno, L., Manfredi, M., Di Poi, G., et al. (2026). A scoping review on positive emotions and affect in autism. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-026-07391-4
Do you taste words or hear colour? The science behind synaesthesia
Useful background article linking the brain science behind this Neurodivergence, and well worth a read. May relate to whether someone is believed to be ‘imagining things’, or whether this is a very real brain variant leading to very real, but different, sensory experiences of the world.
Have you ever tasted a word, or seen colours while listening to music? If you have, you may be among the 1% to 4% of people who have a fascinating trait known as synaesthesia.
Synaesthesia is a brain phenomenon where the activation of one sense, such as hearing, triggers the activation of another usually unrelated sense, such as sight. This means people with synaesthesia often experience additional sensations compared to the rest of us.
Smit, S., & Rich, A. (2026). Do you taste words or hear colours? Here’s the neuroscience behind synaesthesia. The Conversation. https://search.informit.org/doi/full/10.3316/informit.T2026041300000901669733607
Exploring Semi-Speaking as a Communication Identity
An excellent reflective practice guide, in my view, which brings clarity to a little-explored but common feature of Neurodivergent lives. For example, an informal poll during 2022 of an Autistic community on a social media platform revealed that over half of those answering (more than a thousand contributors) were not always able to speak when they need to.
Our experiences and lives are largely undocumented and misunderstood, so I am thankful for the invaluable examples and accounts within this volume, along with top tips aplenty. Whilst originally for Speech and Language Therapists, this will be very useful for so many others.
Richardson, J., & Mears, J. (2026). Exploring semi-speaking as a communication identity: A reflective practice guide. Routledge. https://www.routledge.com/Exploring-Semi-Speaking-as-a-Communication-Identity-A-Reflective-Practice-Guide/Richardson-Mears/p/book/9781032789521
Neurodivergent people and eating disorders: Cutlery choices can make a big difference
Sometimes easy-to-solve obstacles to eating recovery are overlooked. One of these has been choice of cutlery. So many Neurodivergent people, particularly Autistic people, report sensory difficulties handling and using particular cutlery, but there’s been little interest from some care teams. “Where’s the evidence?”, we have been asked. Here it is.
Participants evaluated 31 cutlery items varying in material, weight, size, and shape. … Metal cutlery was most frequently preferred, whereas wooden, paper-based, plastic, and hybrid designs (e.g. the spork) were consistently rejected. While participants shared many sensory constraints, there was also marked individual variation. Qualitative findings indicated that cutlery functioned as an active sensory interface, influencing comfort, predictability, and readiness to eat. Judgements were grounded in embodied evaluations of weight, balance, texture, mouth fit, and material neutrality. Preferences remained consistent across treatment contexts, with participants describing coping strategies and sensory compromises rather than changes in sensory preferences.
Chubinidze, D., Meyer, A., Makin, L., Sterling, K., & Tchanturia, K. (2026). Exploring sensory aspects of cutlery in neurodivergent-informed eating disorder care. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17, Article 1827308. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1827308
Heart attacks, strokes and other related ('ischaemic') health situations, for Autistic people
Very important research for millions of Autistic people, who – as we know – may have much shorter lives than others. Because we’ve largely been focused on ‘behaviour’ and enforced normalisation for nearly 100 years, the health disasters and opportunities have mainly been overlooked.
This is not yet a final published paper but has been made available in its nearly-ready state, because of its importance. Ischaemic events are things like heart attacks and strokes, where blood supply to a vital organ (heart, brain etc) is restricted or cut off.
In this… study of 141,672 individuals, Autistic people had a 19% increased risk of a major ischaemic event. This was 71% for Autistic women… Elevated risks of these events among Autistic women cannot be explained by known cardiometabolic risk factors... Clinicians, health policy makers and providers should implement appropriate screening and cardiometabolic interventions for Autistic people.
It may be worth getting the right healthcare checks done, regularly, and I hope that the NHS takes very careful note of its findings, once finalised.
Al Rubaie, O. A., Weir, E., Tsompanidis, A., Allison, C., Fysh, M. C., Di Angelantonio, E., Payne, R. A., Matthews, F. E., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2026). Increased risk of major ischaemic events among autistic people. medRxiv. https://www.medrxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.07.01.26357011v1
Interventions and supports for Autistic people - researchers consider the view of Autistic people on what it was like and what happened
Oddly, many charities and government groups keep saying that they haven’t got a clue what Autistic people’s research priorities are. Consultations are held. Then, a few months later, they claim, again, not to have a clue what’s needed. Research may help them to understand. Most ‘interventions’ for Autistic people were designed without asking Autistic people if they were useful, relevant, or did anything at all to improve quality of life. What experiences, positive or negative, did they have? The team ask Autistic people for their views.
… Autistic people said the best/most important goals focused on safety, child well-being and adult support. The worst/least important goals focused on changing Autism characteristics such as stimming and eye contact.
Nosova, E., Sturrock, A., Humphrey, N., & Leadbitter, K. (2026). The views of autistic adults on early autism interventions: A mixed-methods systematic literature review. Autism. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261460931
Autistic Experience and Aging: a Neurodiversity-Affirmative Approach
Always good to see the teams focusing on the majority of Autistic people, rather than solely on children and young people. This editorial overview looks at a range of articles recently published on this topic, questioning some of the fundamental beliefs about what age is ‘old’ (Clue: it’s not 50…and 50 year olds do not often have the same set of health situations, support needs, or general goals as e.g. 85-100 year old people).
There are risks of misdiagnosing signs of Autistic aging with signs of pathology, such as dementia. Health and social care services are unprepared for the needs of aging Autistic adults. Policy fails to account for their priorities and concerns. Opportunities to learn from lived experience and wisdom are missed.
Stewart, M. E., Day, A., & Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, H. (2026). Autistic experience and aging: A neurodiversity-affirmative approach. Autism in Adulthood, 8(2), 145–148. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581261440760
Book: Creative Minds, Divergent Paths. Exploring Neurodiversity in the Arts and Employment
In a world that often imagines that e.g. all Autistic people want to work in supermarkets or as IT staff, it’s great to see books exploring more of the realities, for Neurodivergent people. What are the experiences, the challenges, and joys? We focus on quality of life, and such volumes can add greatly to our understanding of why creativity is a huge part of so many people’s shared and individual experiences, including work and hobbies.
… this work explores employment in the music and literary industries as well as in performance, media, and the visual arts. Lovesey incorporates lived experiences… considering how these industries can be more inclusive. The study also examines the precarity of employment in creative sectors, as well as academia, where short-term work arrangements impact neurodivergent individuals’ stability and success. By examining stereotypes, definitions, and individual experiences, this work ultimately advocates for a democratic and community-driven approach to neurodiversity...
Lovesey, D. (2026). Creative minds, divergent paths: Exploring neurodiversity in the arts and employment. Emerald Publishing Limited.
Behaviour teams couldn’t stop Autistic children and young people showing what appears to be stress behaviour - put electrodes in their brains using surgery
Content warning: Brain surgery, medical harm, distress, and ethical concerns.
This team identified six children/young people age 7-14 who had ‘behaviour based’ interventions to stop them showing behaviour such as hitting themselves or banging their head against something. The behaviour treatment didn’t stop them showing this apparent distress, so the team reason that they could stop them by putting electrodes in their brains.
The team seem not to have sought assent from the children. No-one seems to have asked the children why they were distressed, or tried any approach other than behaviour-based interventions. We are not told if the young people had been investigated for migraine, or had eyesight or hearing difficulties that might lead to distress. We are also not told if any had any pain condition that might cause distress. We are not told if the young people had major unmet sensory needs, or had experienced significant trauma, or whether any investigation into these factors was done, before declaring that potentially dangerous or even deadly surgery was the only answer.
After surgery to put in the electrodes, one child ended up with a brain bleed.
One ended up with an abscess that needed extensive medical treatment.
The ‘behaviour’ from three others got worse before it got ‘better’, which arguably could put children at more risk than before. One might ask if the child’s quality of life was better after all of this, but no-one asked them about that.
The parents, heavily invested in it ‘working’, said it ‘worked’.
I have serious concerns about this type of research. Whilst not in any way minimising the distress that the children and young people were in, I do not think that this is doing our best for Autistic young people. The risks to the children from this were clearly significant, and the matter raises concerns about how Ethics boards with oversight of such research are making their decisions. Were they told that there were no other options? What training do Ethics Board members have?
My personal recommendation would be to always consult with Autistic specialists and professional healthcare allies to the Autistic communities at every stage before, during and after such research planning.
Mithani, K., Breitbart, S., Dinger, T., et al. (2026). Deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens for severe self-injurious behaviour in children: Long-term outcomes from a first-in-human pilot trial. Molecular Psychiatry. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-026-03710-4
