Exploring the different cognitive, emotional and imaginative experiences of autistic and non-autistic adult readers when contemplating serious literature as compared to non-fiction.

Introduction: Recent research has demonstrated how reflections on serious literature can challenge dominant social-deficit views of autism. This method enables autistic readers to explore social realities more slowly and carefully, encouraging detail-focused considerations. Previous research has also shown that autistic and non-autistic readers reflecting on serious literature together are able to achieve mutuality in a way that enables them to overcome the double empathy problem.

Come together: The importance of arts and cultural engagement within the Liverpool City Region throughout the COVID-19 lockdown periods.

Introduction: Arts and cultural engagement activities have long been found to support wellbeing within the general population. In particular, community arts and cultural involvement during the COVID-19 pandemic have been an invaluable source of mental health and wellbeing support for many individuals across the globe. The initial move to remote engagement following the first United Kingdom lockdown demonstrated the importance of hybrid provisions, with isolated and vulnerable individuals finding online provisions important for wellbeing.

Back to live: Returning to in-person engagement with arts and culture in the Liverpool City Region.

On July 19th 2021, the UK government lifted the COVID-19 restrictions that had been in place since March 2020, including wearing masks, social distancing, and all other legal requirements. The return to in-person events has been slow and gradual, showing that audiences are still cautious when (and if) they resume engaging in arts and culture. Patterns of audience behavior have also changed, shifting toward local attendance, greater digital and hybrid engagement, and openness to event format changes.

Lifting lockdown: Renewed access to arts and cultural activities.

Background: The effects of COVID-19 on mental health are profound. While there is a growing body of evidence on arts supporting mental health, the re-engagement with in-person arts and cultural activity has remained slow following the lifting of restrictions.

Methods: Interviews with 14 representatives, including providers and practitioners, from 12 arts and cultural organisations within the Liverpool City Region (LCR) were conducted.

Challenging Empathic Deficit Models of Autism Through Responses to Serious Literature.

Dominant theoretical models of autism and resultant research enquiries have long centered upon an assumed autism-specific empathy deficit. Associated empirical research has largely relied upon cognitive tests that lack ecological validity and associate empathic skill with heuristic-based judgments from limited snapshots of social information. This artificial separation of thought and feeling fails to replicate the complexity of real-world empathy, and places socially tentative individuals at a relative disadvantage.

Overcoming the Double Empathy Problem Within Pairs of Autistic and Non-autistic Adults Through the Contemplation of Serious Literature.

Recent research based on the needs of the autistic community has explored the frequent social misunderstandings that arise between autistic and non-autistic people, known as the double empathy problem. Double empathy understandings require both groups to respect neurodiversity by focussing on individuality across groups. This study aimed to explore how literature, through its ability to uncover nuanced emotional response differences between readers, could facilitate double empathy understandings within pairs of autistic and non-autistic adults.

Commentary: Considering nomenclature for autism - aligning with the language preferences of the autistic community - a commentary on Kehinde et al. (2021).

Since the implementation of 'autism' as a diagnosable condition in the 1980s, the medical model has continued to dominate how we understand autism. More recently, there has been a rise in understanding autism through the neurodiversity model and the lived experiences of autistic people themselves. However, there is often misalignment between the medical model and the preferences of the autistic community.

An analysis of the reading habits of autistic adults compared to neurotypical adults and implications for future interventions.

Background: While research has consistently highlighted the usefulness of narrative texts for social development, this has not been fully explored with autistic adults. It has long been assumed that autistic individuals lack the social understanding to contemplate fiction, preferring non-fiction. This study aimed to explore the self-reported reading habits of autistic adults compared to neurotypical adults, accounting for higher education demands.