Autism, Neurodivergence, Support Needs and Inclusion — What’s New in May
In this research roundup, Ann Memmott highlights, amongst others, new studies on self identification, education, psychotherapy, dating and the additional health challenges faced by Autistic people.
School distress, attendance, Human Rights to an education, and neurodivergence
Important study by Connolly and team, looking at a subject that impacts so many countless thousands of families in our country. Nearly a thousand parents were asked about their child/young person’s (CYP) school attendance and levels of distress.
In 94.3% of cases, school attendance problems were underpinned by significant emotional distress, with often harrowing accounts of this distress provided by parents. While the (average age) of the CYP was 11.6 years, their School Distress was evident to parents from a much younger age (7.9 years). Notably, 92.1% of CYP currently experiencing School Distress were described as neurodivergent (ND) and 83.4% as autistic. Autistic CYP displayed School Distress at a significantly earlier age, and it was significantly more enduring... Concerningly, despite the striking levels of emotional distress and disability reported by parents, parents also reported a dearth of meaningful support for their CYP at school… While not a story of exclusivity relating solely to autism, School Distress is a story dominated by complex neurodivergence and a seemingly systemic failure to meet the needs of these CYP. Given the disproportionate number of disabled CYP impacted, we ask whether the United Kingdom is upholding its responsibility to ensure the “right to an education” for all CYP (Human Rights Act 1998).
The answer to that appears to be a resounding, “No.”
Connolly, S., Constable, H. L., & Mullally, S. L. (2023). School distress and the school attendance crisis: a story dominated by neurodivergence and unmet need. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14(14). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1237052
Navigating Online Dating – Autistic Adults Experiences of Connections, Disclosure and Safety
We need to know a lot more about what happens, with online dating and Autistic people. Good to see the research from Gibbs and team, who asked over 100 Autistic adults about their experiences. Alarming findings, for a fair number of people attempting this, which shows how much more has to be done to get the best possible online safety:
The research team, which included autistic researchers and family members of autistic people, designed an online survey with both multiple-choice and open-ended questions. A total of 102 autistic adults (57 women, 34 men, 9 nonbinary participants, and 2 agender) completed the survey. We asked participants about the dating apps they used, the kinds of relationships they were seeking, if and when they disclosed, responses they received, and whether they had faced harassment or other harmful experiences.
Most participants (over 80%) had met someone in person through dating apps, and many had formed long-term or short-term relationships or casual connections such as hook-ups or friendships.
Negative experiences were common: Around 40% received unwanted sexually explicit messages, and many reported verbal abuse. Women and non-heterosexual participants faced higher rates and a wider variety of victimization compared with men and heterosexual participants. Just over half chose not to disclose that they were autistic on their profiles, though some chose to disclose later on. Reasons for disclosing included wanting to be authentic, filtering for compatible partners, and preventing misunderstandings. Reasons for not disclosing included fear of stigma, rejection, or exploitation. Responses to disclosure were mixed: While some received curiosity, respect, or support, others reported ghosting, stereotyping, or dismissive reactions.
Gibbs, V., Edwards, C., Cai, R. Y., Love, A. M. A., & Pearson, A. (2026). Navigating Online Dating: Autistic Adults’ Experiences of Connections, Disclosure, and Safety. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581261442064
An Exploration of the Social Networks of Autistic College Students
Do Autistic college students prefer to avoid socialising? Who do they socialise with? Wolford and team asked nearly 600 Autistic and nonautistic students. To no surprise, perhaps, many Autistic people tend to socialise more often with other Autistic/neurodivergent people, who 'speak their language’.
Our understanding of autistic socialization using social network analysis has focused on autistic children and understanding support systems. The purpose of this study is to examine autistic friendship networks in adulthood without focusing on support systems. We broadly recruited autistic and nonautistic college students (n = 592 students)…Participants of all neurotypes reported similar friendship closeness, social satisfaction, and close mixed-neurotype friendships.
However, on average, autistic college students had a higher proportion of autistic and neurodivergent friends than nonautistic college students. To a lesser extent, nonautistic students reported a greater preference for neurotypical friendships. These quantitative results suggest that autistic college students prefer building friendships with other autistic or neurodivergent peers (i.e. autistic or neurodivergent homophily). This preference suggests that authentically autistic (social) spaces and the availability of neurodivergent peers would be beneficial for autistic college students. Overall, these findings contradict the pathologizing “lack of interest in friendships” narrative surrounding autism.
Wolford, G. W., Varela, G., Freeland, R. E., & Bellon-Harn, M. L. (2026). Social Isolation or Autistic Homophily: An Exploration of the Social Networks of Autistic College Students. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261435994
Additional Health Challenges in Life for Autistic People
More stark research showing that Autistic people tend to have significantly raised levels of health difficulties, and face a very real risk of dying early if teams do not assess for these and treat these. This is part of why diagnosing Autistic people as Autistic is so important.
The findings of this umbrella review underscore the urgent need for a holistic approach to the assessment and support for autistic people, acknowledging the widespread co-occurring conditions and impacts on various life domains… our review highlights the need for clinicians to be mindful in assessing for co-occurring challenges... Given the consistent evidence of elevated anxiety, depression, and suicidality, adult and child autism diagnostic services should incorporate routine screening for common mental health conditions and routine suicide risk assessment at the point of diagnosis and during follow-up reviews.
Our review also indicates that clinicians should be aware of physical conditions such as gastrointestinal problems, oral hygiene, epilepsy, sleep and early mortality in relation to autism. Structured sleep and gastrointestinal assessment pathways should be integrated directly into clinical services. This is particularly pertinent, given that many autistic people report unmet needs and barriers to accessing healthcare.
French, B., Newell, V., Nalbant, G., Wright, H., Daley, D., & Cassidy, S. (2026). Adverse outcomes for autistic people: an umbrella review of mental health, physical health, social and lifestyle domains. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 17. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2026.1702822
Sexual and reproductive health (SRH) – young women with a diagnosis of ADHD
This is another subject we need to know a lot more about. This research paper is a long read, but with very useful contributions from interviews.
Living with ADHD may contribute to positive sexual experiences and sexual knowledge for young women; however, ADHD symptoms, social norms, and low self-esteem may negatively affect SRH. To individualize SRH support, healthcare practitioners need to consider variations in functional ability, existing coping strategies, [co-occurring diagnoses], and life circumstances. Tailored, accessible care; early recognition of ADHD-related functional impairments in girls; and organizational conditions that promote accessibility and trust can help ensure that young women with ADHD receive appropriate support and have equal opportunities to exercise their sexual and reproductive rights alongside their neurotypical peers. The findings may further inform the development of clinical guidelines for SRH promotion in young women with ADHD, as well as emphasizing SRH strategies in existing clinical guidelines concerning ADHD management.
Wallin, K. (2026). Sexual and reproductive health in young women with ADHD: Women's and health care professionals' perspectives (Doctoral dissertation, Linköping University Electronic Press). https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:2057851/FULLTEXT01.pdf
Diagnosed or self-identified? What are the differences between the two groups of autistic people?
Always a ‘hot topic’, many have found themselves arguing for or against self-identity as a valid choice for Autistic people. For many, it’s the only choice they have, in a system that is painfully slow, often expensive, and which ‘gatekeeps’ many marginalised or minoritized groups. It may also be a very real risk to have a formal Autism diagnosis on your records, in some societies and situations. But, is self-identity generally accurate? Huge numbers took part in this study. Some of the tests used are controversial, but it’s still an interesting read.
Results: Self-identified autistic adults were older, more often female, and more likely to be employed than formally diagnosed autistic adults. They had lower AQ and SQ-R scores than formally diagnosed autistic adults, but higher scores than non-autistic adults, with the reverse pattern observed for the EQ. Reading the Mind in the Eyes Test (RMET) performance did not differ between self-identified and formally diagnosed autistic adults. Both groups reported comparably high rates of co-occurring mental health conditions relative to non-autistic adults. Neurodevelopmental conditions occurred most frequently in formally diagnosed autistic adults, followed by self-identified autistic adults and non-autistic adults.
Conclusion: Self-identified autistic adults show a profile broadly resembling, but not identical to, that of formally diagnosed autistic adults. This supports their inclusion as a meaningful group to further explore in autism research while highlighting important differences.
Schalbroeck, R., Weir, E., Braschi, S., Allison, C., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2026). A large-scale comparison of formally diagnosed vs. self-identified autistic and non-autistic adults. Spanish Journal of Psychology, 18 osf.io/preprints/psyarxiv/9kx6q_v1
What happens after a long stay in mental health wards, for Autistic people and people with a learning disability?
Rubenstein and team take a look at past research on this, to find out what we know so far.
Pretty worrying results, given we spend countless £millions on community placements and future accommodation & support for people leaving long-term mental health settings. We haven’t even been asking most people about their own views of life beyond the ward, it seems.
People with intellectual disabilities and/or autistic people are sometimes kept in hospital for a long time, often in places known as ‘long-stay hospitals’. When people leave long-stay hospitals to live in the community, they usually need support to make sure that they can live an ordinary life. We do not know much about what kind of support helps people to live better lives.
We looked at research that has come out since 1994 to find out what is already known about this issue in the UK. We found that people's lives often improve when they leave long-stay hospitals, but not always, and they do not improve as much as they could. We do not know much about how much community care costs, or how often people go back to hospital or end up in prison after moving to the community. Most of the studies we read did not include the voices of people themselves.
We suggest that further research is needed in order to understand what life looks like for people after they leave long-stay hospitals, and it should include the voices of people themselves.
Rubenstein, Z., Glasby, J., Posaner, R., Miller, R., & Glasby, A. (2026). A Systematic Review of Outcomes for People With Intellectual Disabilities and/or Autistic People Following Resettlement From Long‐Stay Hospitals in the UK. Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities, 39(3). https://doi.org/10.1111/jar.70244
Psychotherapy for neurodivergent people – attitudes and assumptions of psychotherapists
Neurodivergent people may wait years to see a therapist, only to find that they are given someone with no training in neurodivergence and, sometimes, some very damaging attitudes and responses to their situations. Very good to find studies that examine this, and work out what we can do to prevent that from happening.
Autistic and neurodivergent clients frequently experience relational and epistemic harm in psychotherapy when neurotypical therapists’ interpretations of emotional expression and communication rely on unexamined normative assumptions. While research increasingly documents autistic clients’ experiences of invalidation and misattunement, few studies interrogate therapists’ underlying assumptions that shape these encounters. …this qualitative study uses semi-structured interviews with 8–12 UK-based neurotypical therapists... By centring therapists’ perspectives alongside critical theory, this research illuminates structural and ethical dimensions of therapeutic work, offering insights to support more inclusive, responsive, and ethically grounded practice with neurodivergent clients.
Kedziora, M. (2026). Neurotypical therapists’ epistemic biases in understanding neurodivergent relationality and subjectivity. European Journal of Psychotherapy & Counselling, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642537.2026.2666027
Neurodiversity disclosure amongst academic library staff
We might imagine that being a Neurodivergent librarian in Universities would be a fairly expected thing. It seems that quite a few have good reasons not to disclose being Neurodivergent. This study takes a look at the experience of 129 librarians, and shows how important it is for the organisation to be inclusive and affirming of neurodivergence.
Neurodivergent individuals are employed across academic libraries, yet their workplace experiences surrounding disclosure of neurodivergence and access to accommodation remain underexamined in the scholarly literature…this study centers neurodivergent voices while examining organizational culture, interpersonal dynamics, and systemic barriers within higher education. Survey data were collected from 129 neurodivergent academic library staff. Quantitative findings indicate that disclosure remains deeply divided, with nearly half of respondents choosing not to disclose despite often considering doing so. Qualitative analysis revealed perceived benefits of disclosure including improved understanding, strengthened workplace relationships, and reduced masking. Respondents also identified risks, including stigma, discrimination, differential treatment, emotional labor, and distrust of organizational processes. Findings suggest that disclosure decisions are shaped less by the desire for specific accommodations and more by assessments of psychological safety, organizational culture, and relational trust. This study contributes to the literature by reframing workplace accommodation as relational as well as procedural and offers implications for policy and practice aimed at fostering more inclusive, neurodiversity-affirming academic library environments.
Schirano, M. (2026). Neurodiversity Disclosure Among Academic Library Staff. (Thesis) https://digitalcommons.fairfield.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1028&context=etds
How AI hiring systems discriminate against neurodivergent workers
It has been interesting, and concerning, to see an increasing number of articles and reports detailing the unanticipated outcomes of AI’s alleged ‘improvements’ to society. This is an article rather than formal academic research, but well worth reading as part of someone’s general information-gathering. Most Neurodivergent people are already contributing to society in a huge variety of ways, of course, including some in paid employment. Some others may wish to be employed. Are companies, charities and other organisations at more risk than ever of missing out on the best staff, because AI is making errors that mean it’s automatically binning the CVs and test results of neurodivergent candidates? Relevant to Governments also, with their huge push to give more Neurodivergent paid employment opportunities. Whatever we think about the ethics of that, creating huge unfairness in hiring processes doesn’t help anyone.
The systematic exclusion of neurodivergent individuals from employment opportunities through biased AI hiring systems represents a civil rights challenge that demands immediate attention. As these technologies become more prevalent and sophisticated, the window for correcting their discriminatory impacts is rapidly closing. The path forward requires coordinated action across multiple fronts: regulatory enforcement of existing civil rights law, industry adoption of inclusive design practices, and continued advocacy from affected communities. The stakes extend beyond individual employment opportunities to fundamental questions about who gets to participate in an increasingly algorithmic economy.
Companies, vendors, and policymakers must recognize that truly "smart" AI systems are those that can accurately assess human potential across the full spectrum of neurological diversity. Building such systems requires not just technical innovation but a commitment to justice and inclusion that prioritizes human dignity over algorithmic efficiency. The future of work will be shaped by the choices we make today about algorithmic fairness. Ensuring that this future includes meaningful opportunities for neurodivergent individuals is not just a legal obligation—it's an economic imperative and a moral necessity.
Hebert, P. (2025, June 3). AI Hiring Systems Systematically Exclude Neurodivergent Workers. Algorithm Unmasked. https://www.algorithmunmasked.com/posts/ai-hiring-systems-systematically-exclude-neurodivergent-workers/
Applied Behaviour Analysis team decide to stop Autistic adult from organising things
Despite claims to be a reformed, neuro-affirming, trauma-informed industry, the ABA teams are still putting out brand new research on how to stop standard Autistic behaviour such as lining things up.
This team target e.g. an Autistic adult, Drew, whose alleged ‘bad behaviour’ includes closing drawers that are open, lining up marker pens and DVDs, and folding yoga mats in ways not approved of by the ABA enforcer. If they failed to comply with the team’s instructions to stop being neat, they were physically forced to comply. As per usual, no-one engaged with Drew to ask why they did this, considered that this might be perfectly normal/useful adult behaviour really, or worked with Drew to put in place compromise solutions.
Well, that’s extraordinary, isn’t it. I don’t think I need to say more.
Fergus, R. A., Ahearn, W. H., Matthews, A., & Pandola, O. (2026). Functional analysis and treatment of higher level restricted repetitive behavior displayed by individuals with autism. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 59(3). https://doi.org/10.1002/jaba.70066
