Lockdown Experiences and Views on Future Research Participation of Autistic Adults in the UK During the First 6 Months of the COVID-19 Pandemic.
Alba X Realpe, Nicola Mills, Lucy Beasant and 3 others
PMID 37663442WHAT IT FOUND
Autistic adults found the UK lockdown both relieving and unsettling.
Reduced social demands helped, but broken routines and unclear rules raised anxiety. They wanted flexible, chosen online or face-to-face ways to communicate, access services and take part in research.
Key findings
01Many autistic adults said reduced social expectations and calmer public spaces made the lockdown easier to cope with.
02All participants described challenges affecting their well-being, including disrupted routines and anxiety about unclear or changing rules.
03Most participants valued online research communication and consent, but some preferred face-to-face contact and found video calls tiring.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The interviews captured an early response to the first lockdown, so they may not show how experiences changed over later restrictions. The sample was mostly well educated, many had research experience, and participants were recruited through a charity and social media, so views may not represent autistic adults with less interest in research or greater support needs. People with intellectual disabilities were not included. Ethnicity and co-occurring physical or mental health conditions were not collected. Most interviewers had limited or no prior experience talking to autistic adults.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest statement appears in the article text. The research team included the head of research at the UK charity Autistica, and participants were recruited through that charity and social media.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these themes as evidence that lockdown helped autistic adults overall. The study reports experiences from 31 mostly well-educated adults recruited through a charity, and all participants also described challenges. It did not measure outcomes or compare groups.