how late diagnosis can hurt mental health and self image
For many women, adult diagnoses of autism are “a light in the darkness”, an epiphany of self-understanding. My “lightbulb moment” came in my late 20s. “They thought you were autistic,” my mum mused when I told her I was embarking on an academic career in autism research.
Read more “Like many women, I didn’t know I was autistic until adulthood –”
Content warning: This video explores the themes of suicide and mental illness, which some viewers may find distressing.
Read more “Mental wellbeing for Autistic young adults”
Content warning: The following blog post contains content about eating disorders.
Autistic people and those with ADHD are more likely to have eating disorders. Here’s why – and how this affects their treatment
More than 1.1 million Australians are estimated to be living with an eating disorder. Around one-third of these people are neurodivergent.
So why are neurodivergent people, such as autistic people and those with ADHD, more likely to experience eating disorders than the broader population? And how does this impact their treatment?
Read more “Autism, ADHD and eating disorders”
Content warning: This post discusses violence, discrimination, and negative attitudes about Autistic people. If you are in Australia and find this post distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online. Lifeline offers language support services. For non-urgent information about autism, call the Australian national autism helpline on 1300 308 699.
In the media, it’s not uncommon to see news stories linking autism and violent, criminal behaviour. One well-known example is the Sandy Hook tragedy, when Adam Lanza – who was autistic – gunned down elementary school students in the United States. One can also find autism crime stories in Australia. For example, when a teenager stabbed a religious leader in Sydney, the teen’s parents’ suggested that he might be an undiagnosed autistic person. In 2022, a 13-year-old Autistic child in the state of Victoria found himself facing criminal charges after the police encouraged him to commit terrorist outrages.
So, are Autistic people more likely to commit crimes, especially violent ones? 1
Read more “Busting the myth of the Criminal Autistic Psychopath”
Approximately 7 min read
In this post written for autism acceptance month, autistic anthropologist Gerald Roche discusses connections between the communication styles and life expectancy of autistic people, and encourages sociolinguists, linguistic anthropologists, and applied linguists to help work towards a better life for autistic people.
Content warning: This post discusses suicide, sexual and physical violence, discrimination, and negative attitudes about autistic people. If you are in Australia and find this post distressing, you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or chat online. Lifeline offers language support services. For non-urgent information about autism, call the Australian national autism helpline on 1300 308 699.
Read more “I’m Dying to Speak to You”
Approximately 9 min reading time. Downloadable version available here [ PDF 112KB].
Adequate and refreshing sleep is important for health and wellbeing. Poor sleep quality or insomnia can negatively affect multiple aspects of physical and mental health and can impair daytime functioning. Autistic adults generally report poor sleep quality compared to non-autistic adults, and for most Autistic adults, getting good quality sleep each night can be a challenge.
Common sleep issues reported by Autistic adults include:
Coping Strategies, Resilience and Mental Health Outcomes in Autistic Adults
There is consensus surrounding the poor mental health outcomes experienced by many in the Autistic adult population. While the non-autistic literature suggests that high stress represents a key contributor to poor mental health and well-being, individual resources such as coping and resilience have the potential to mitigate the negative effects of stress, accounting for individual differences across mental health outcomes. Despite emerging research showing high stress in Autistic adults, investigations of coping and resilience in this population remain limited.
Read more “Facing Stress: Coping Strategies, Resilience and Mental Health Outcomes in Autistic Adult”
This video recording (55 minutes) featuring Dr Darren Hedley.
Autistic people face experience low rates of labour force participation as well as high under- and unemployment. Autistic people also have high rates of cooccurring psychiatric conditions, such as anxiety and depression, and suicide.
Read more “Video: From employment to suicide prevention: Reflecting on 5 years of research with Autistic adults”
Increasingly researchers are conducting studies looking at mental health among Autistic people. Recent findings have suggested that Autistic adults are more likely to experience several mental health conditions than non-autistic adults. Many Autistic self-advocates are speaking up about their experiences and encouraging researchers to do more work in this field.
Read more “Mental Health of Autistic Adults”
OTARC 2014 Phd graduate Rebecca McStay discusses family stress and Autism
Read more “Parental stress and Autism”