The Autism Act (2009) is the UK law dedicated specifically to supporting autistic people. It makes the government regularly create a formal autism strategy, combined with statutory guidance for the NHS and local authorities. In theory, this ensures accountability and change. Before Parliament creates the 2026 Autism Strategy, the House of Lords Select Committee gathered the views of many autistic people, advocates and academics to find out how successful the existing strategy has been, and the next steps …

Good studies in psychology are generalisabile and replicable. That means that: the group of participants really should represent the general population and the results should be able to be done again with very similar results. But, results show that people who sign up for psychological studies typically don’t represent the general population, usually due to age and background. This can be taken into account with some good statistics, but low-level psychiatric symptoms are not usually checked for. This research follows a series of studies to explore why it is important to do so …

Back in 2013 A Future Made Together (Pellicano et al.) was collectively authored at a moment when autistic people were increasingly questioning who held the power in autism research. It showed what many autistic activists, families and scholars had been seeing for years: that autism research in the UK was shaped by normative-defined priorities, that resources clustered around biomedical funding, and that the aims of autism research were removed from what mattered in autistic lives …

Loneliness is a common emotion experienced by many, but previous research indicates higher rates of loneliness within the autistic adult community. Led by Kana Grace, an autistic researcher, this study explores the lived experiences of a diverse group of over 200 autistic adults through an online survey.  Each was asked a series of questions on loneliness: how they would define it; how it affects them; how they manage it; what helps them overcome it; and how their experiences may have changed over time? …

Have you been distracted by the whine of an old fridge, the echo in a classroom, or the buzz of fluorescent lights? For autistic people, these sounds aren’t just small irritations, due to sensory hypersensitivity they can quickly build into something overwhelming. This paper explores how noise and the spaces we design can either support or challenge autistic people …

CRAE’s Mel Romualdez was part of a team of UCL academics who wrote the rapid evidence report on ‘Identifying and supporting the needs of children and young people with SEND’. They have put together a concise, up‑to‑date collection of what research says about how to spot needs early, provide good classroom support and work together with teachers, health professionals and families …

Understanding others means being able to represent what they might be thinking or feeling. This is often called theory of mind. Recent work by Geoff and collegues suggests that before we can guess someone’s specific thoughts, we first build a general mental model of their mind.. This representation is placed in what they call mind-space: a kind of multidimensional map where each person’s mind is located according to traits such as kindness, intelligence, or other characteristics. Where someone is placed in this Mind-space influences the assumptions we make about their likely beliefs and intentions. If we represent someone as …

When entering higher education in the UK, students get offered a needs assessment through the Disabled Students Allowance. For autistic students, disclosure often results in the option for a Specialist Mentor (Autism). This study was built off a thematic analysis of diary entries completed by Specialist Mentors across the UK. A group of seven autistic mentees co-created a brief set of questions for the Specialist Mentors to consider in their entries. An autistic majority group of master mentors directed analysis. This participatory approach ensured results would be relevant to the autistic community …

They found that our confidence in a judgment is shaped by how similar we think the other person is to ourselves… and how well we actually know ourselves. So the idea that, “I know what he’s thinking, he’s just like me!” can be misleading if my self-perception is inaccurate. In that case, I might feel very confident in a personality judgment that’s actually wrong and therefore misread the person’s thoughts or feelings. In other words, self-knowledge isn’t just about understanding yourself, it also affects how well you understand others …

This study looked at how autistic adults form false memories—when someone remembers something that didn’t actually happen. They wanted to find out if autistic people are more or less likely to make false memories compared to non-autistic people, and what might explain any differences. They used a well-known memory test (called the Deese-Roediger-McDermott task – a name which is quite hard to remember).  In this test, people study lists of related words that suggest a missing word (called a ‘critical lure’). A list of words starting with bed – rest – awake – tired – dream, might make you …

While prior research has examined the sensory impact of school environments, until now few studies have directly considered autistic students’ own perspectives on how sensory differences affect their wellbeing, energy, and learning. This study brings to the front those lived experiences to better understand what school feels like from the inside out …

With the growing interest in apps and wearables that claim to be able to help us to learn how to improve our awareness of our own bodies’ signals, Murphy & Bird consider whether these claims can stand up.  Evidence of better scores after training might not be about better awareness of our bodies.  It could be something else, like knowing the test better.  This paper focuses on heartbeat awareness training …

This paper sees potential problems with traditional ToM tests by identifying the types of skills that are necessary for ToM judgements. Often, as psychologists, we are attempting to design experiments provide measurement for one skill without influence from other processes. With ToM doing this is difficult (maybe even impossible!) because there might not be a specific ‘theory of mind module’ and instead our general cognitive ability allows us to make guesses based on previous information and experience. For example, we may use our knowledge that introverts often don’t like large groups to predict that they may not be as …

This paper suggest that alexithymia – not autism – might explain some of the variability in sensory experiences among autistic people and beyond. The study used parent-reported data from adolescent twins to explore genetic relationships between autism, alexithymia, and sensory symptoms. The team found that genetic link between autism and sensory symptoms disappears when alexithymia is accounted for …

The team looked at how careers guidance is provided to autistic pupils in special schools in England. Careers guidance helps young people move from school into work, and schools must offer this support by law. Researchers asked staff in 103 special schools across England to fill out a survey about what careers support they provide. Then, they spoke in more detail with 20 of those staff members in interviews …

A reflexive thematic analysis Kiera Adams, Jonahs Smith, Mary Brown, Geoff Bird, and Polly Waite (2025) research gate We all know the feeling: your heart races before a big event, your stomach twists with nerves, and your hands feel clammy when you’re anxious. But what if you couldn’t recognize these signals? Or worse, what if they felt so overwhelming that they themselves became a source of anxiety?For many autistic adolescents, this is not just a hypothetical scenario. Anxiety is a well-documented challenge, with studies estimating that at least 40% experience at least one anxiety disorder. Autistic adolescents are nearly …

An analysis of more than 5 million tweets created a huge data set that could be investigated. It allowed a statical test to be run to see the similarities between what autistic people write, what their parents write, what is written by autistic self-advocacy groups, and what is written by autism advocacy groups that autistic people do not lead …

For several years the Theory of Mind (ToM) hypothesis has been suggested as an underlying mechanism for understanding autism. It finds that no existing models fully explain ToM in autism. So, the team introduce the Mind-space framework. Problems with the current Theory of Mind hypothesis: • Describing and explaining ToM differences in autism is quite unclear. • There are oversimplified claims, such as autistic people “lacking ToM,” which contradicts existing evidence… and the stories of autistic people • There seem to be limited success of interventions based on the ToM hypothesis …

Some people are far better than others at recognising faces. These people are called super recognisers. Scientists want to know why they are so good. Usual tests mix together different skills, like noticing details in a face, remembering faces, and deciding if two faces are the same. This makes it hard to know which skill matters most. A new test, the Oxford Face Matching Test (OFMT), can separate these skills. It has already been used to study people with autism and people who find faces very hard to recognise (prosopagnosia). In these studies, autistic people often have reasonable face …

Employment is beneficial to people’s overall wellbeing, but many autistic people who want to work face challenges in finding and maintaining meaningful employment. Much of the current research focuses on employment rates (e.g., whether someone has a job or not), rather than an understanding of career development and experiences. This study aimed to explore what career success means to autistic adults and their experiences in achieving it. It did this by conducting interviews with 18 autistic adults. Semi-structured interviews allowed participants to share their stories in depth, while the researchers still guided the discussion to focus on relevant themes …

We looked at how autistic people with intellectual disabilities and people with Williams Syndrome (WS) experience focus, distraction, and input like sounds or sight. We wanted to find out if autistic people with intellectual disabilities have the same “increased perceptual capacity” (ability to process more information) seen in autistic people without intellectual disabilities …

Interoception – how we feel what our body is doing – has been linked to wellbeing.  A team, with Geoff Bird, looked at a new app that might how accurate someone is at feeling signals form their body.   …

Some groups are pushed towards the edges of society where they have fewer opportunities and less power. These are people with marginalised identities, which can come from being part of a minority ethnic group, facing cultural and linguistic barriers, or being autistic.   When people belong to more than one of these groups, they have “multiple marginalised identities” …

In this paper Geoff gives his thanks to those who have taken him through the steps of ‘fine cuts’ research that seeks to get past the superficials to what is really going on …

A strange phenomenon in the way people behave is ‘choice blindness’. When someone has made a choice that is sneakily swapped and shown back to us later, we often fail to notice – and even stick with the switched choice. Believing that we already made a choice, might make us justify it to ourselves. Our new study looked at whether autistic and non-autistic people experience choice blindness to the same extent …

This study addresses a really important issue – the gap in autism knowledge among employers, which often hinders employment opportunities for autistic individuals. The research evaluates the effectiveness of an online training programme developed by Ambitious about Autism, “Understanding Autism in the Workplace”, on changing employers’ autism knowledge and commitment to inclusion in the workplace …

This paper aimed to understand how autistic traits may impact student wellbeing and whether these effects are specific to performing arts courses. A total of 424 students, including 280 from performing arts courses and 144 studying other subjects, participated in an online survey. This survey assessed their educational self-efficacy – their belief and confidence that they could successfully engage with their education tasks – along with quality of life, mental health, levels of autistic and ADHD traits, and their experiences with support during their studies. The goal was to explore the relationship between these factors …

The study was led by a non-binary autistic researcher. Interviewed participants shared perceptions of gender as an internal feeling, shaped in interaction with others, and reflected on society’s fixation with a binary system. This opens up conversations on the complexity of gender identity. Three themes were identified …

A systematic review of exisiting literature. Relevant papers by theme in the 33 papers in the review: Adequate support (11) Desired career progression for many (7) Tailored opportunities (2) Unemployment and poor job matching (16) Stigma and discrimination 9) Organisational barriers (4) Gaps in eduation and employment (3) Differences in social communication (3) Health (2) Difficulties in setting career goals (2) Financial implications of progression (l) …

“Retirement is one hell of a change isn’t it?” – “You know it’s a great big change of pace, of gear, of where you fit in the world, how the world sees you, how you see yourself” – “What I don’t have is an emotional plan for retirement I thought when I got to retirement, I would say ‘hallelujah. Isn’t this wonderful?’ And, actually… I really don’t know what for. It’s quite a strange, unsettling feeling” An awful lot of extra hours to have. “I’m now delivering autism diagnostic assessments… and it’s a joy and a privilege” …

A large accessible survey was designed by a neurodiverse group of researchers to find out about focus and distraction. It was shared with autistic adults, adults with ADHD, autistic adults with ADHD and a group from the predominant neurotype (PNT). Five main themes were identified through a thematic analysis by a neurodivergent team: …

At CRAE, we are very proud that so much of our research has contributed to this report. The Buckland Review –  supported by Autistica and the DWP – gives valuable recommendations for employers to see the value that autistic people bring, and seeks ways to support them in starting and progressing careers. While employment may not be appropriate for all autistic people, we hope that this Review addresses the gap between the number who want to work and those who find a meaningful job …

Autistic adults often face a dilemma of whether and how much to conceal or reveal about their autistic identity. Disclosure can lead to understanding and support, but also judgement and discrimination. This study looks at a new programme for autistic adults adapted from the Honest, Open and Proud (HOP) programme. HOP is a peer-led group programme for adults with mental health conditions, focused on weighing the pros and cons of disclosure and crafting personal stories to disclose with …

A positive Autistic identity has a part in wellbeing. This systematic review of 20 papers explores this. It shows that support and autism acceptance from family and friends contribute to a more positive Autistic identity.  Individual factors (e.g., age, gender) seem to have little impact on Autistic identity, meaning broad support might be needed, rather than support that targets specific sub-groups. Peer support and self-guided resources could be valuable ways of developing a positive Autistic identity. Most importantly, a positive Autistic identity is linked with improved mental health and well-being …

Executive function is a group of skills including planning, inhibition and switching between tasks. Autistic people report struggling quite a lot with these skills. But, when researchers test these skills in the lab, they do not tend to find such big difficulties. This paper, led by former CRAE PhD student Lorcan Kenny and former CRAE Director Liz Pellicano, together with current CRAE Director Anna Remington, takes the first step to bridging the lab and the real world by directly asking autistic teenagers about their EF skills. Their mothers were also asked about these skills to build up a rich …

Questionnaires exist to assess loneliness, but do they apply to autistic adults? A study with 203 autistic adults in the UK explored this, using two questionnaires: the UCLA Loneliness Scale 3 and the SELSA (Social and Emotional Loneliness Scale for Adults). Participants shared their experiences of these scales and directly reported how often they felt lonely. The scores on the UCLA and SELSA scales matched the autistic adults’ direct reports …

This paper gauges the insights of staff in special schools. The findings highlight that time constraints and a lack of effective methods for engaging autistic pupils hinder the proper implementation of the Act’s principles. Participants called for greater investment in staff training, more flexibility in schools, and better vocational opportunities for autistic young people with additional learning needs …

The paper voices the experiences of 80 autistic young people aged 16-25 years. Findings were mixed, pointing out that the type of schooling plays a significant role in the access to appropriate support. Nevertheless, the importance of parental advocacy and key ‘champions’ like understanding teachers was unanimously acknowledged …

Despite hopes of better support systems and outcomes, the consensus was that little had changed. Parents noted limited support as their children navigated the challenges of transitioning to adulthood. Alongside two further studies, what becomes overwhelmingly clear is the chasm between policy and lived experiences. While the Children and Families Act aimed to offer a radically different system for children and young people with SEND, stakeholders feel much more needs to be done …

In a study of 197 autistic adults, participants stressed the need for research on how to advance in their careers and transition out of work successfully. Despite 22% of autistic adults in the UK being employed, many feel stuck in roles that don’t reflect their skills or potential …

Deciding when or whether to disclose an Autism diagnosis in the workplace is often a challenging decision. This study suggests that disclosing during the interview process may enhance employment prospects. Previous research has shown that Autistic individuals often score lower on interview performance evaluations than their neurotypical peers, primarily due to differences in communication style rather than the content of their responses. To address this unfairness, some researchers have proposed that interviews should be transcribed before being assessed by employers. However, this study suggests that such measures may not be the only solution. Instead, the findings indicate that disclosing …

Traditional interviews tend to use open ended questions, such as ‘what qualities would you bring to the job’ or ‘where do you see yourself in 5 years’, which require interpreting social cues and impression management tactics. This often leads to autistic candidates appearing as less competent than their neurotypical peers but is not indicative of job performance potential …