'I don't think they understand the reality of autism': The lived experiences of autistic adults in Japan.
Nanami Harada, Elizabeth Pellicano, Shinichiro Kumagaya and 3 others
PMID 40684356WHAT IT FOUND
Seven autistic adults in Japan described lifelong feelings of being misunderstood and severe bullying.
They faced workplace discrimination and were often told to hide their diagnosis to appear normal. This led to burnout and social withdrawal. They sought acceptance and support but found little post-diagnostic help.
Key findings
01Participants reported noticing they were different from others from an early age and experiencing bullying to various degrees, with some incidents being severe.
02Participants faced significant barriers to employment, including being told to pretend to be normal, receiving no reasonable accommodations, and experiencing stigma from support services.
03Disclosing their autism diagnosis to family and friends resulted in overwhelmingly negative reactions, leading most participants to hide their diagnosis.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTs
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What it does not show
The study included only seven participants, all of whom were diagnosed in adulthood. It is unclear if these experiences apply to those diagnosed in childhood. The interviews were conducted in 2016, so the findings may not reflect current societal attitudes or the impact of recent disability laws in Japan. There was no comparison group of Western autistic people, so it is difficult to determine which experiences are specific to Japanese culture versus autism more broadly. The small sample size limits the generalizability of the themes to the wider autistic population in Japan.
Declared interests
The research was funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and the Bloomsbury Colleges Scholarship. The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not generalize these findings to all autistic people in Japan or assume that the severe negative experiences reported here are universal. The sample was very small, consisted only of adults diagnosed late, and reflects a specific cultural and historical context from 2016. These are individual narratives, not statistical evidence of prevalence.
Summarised by AI from the full paper, without a clinician reviewing it. Check it against the source before it changes what you do. Read it on PubMed →