'I did what I could to earn some money and be of use': A qualitative exploration of autistic people's journeys to career success and fulfilment.

Many autistic people want to work but have trouble finding jobs they like and can stick with. Most research tries to help more autistic people get jobs, but does not look at whether those jobs are fulfilling, or how people progress once they start working. We spoke to 18 autistic people about their experiences at work, and their ideas about success at work.

Don't think of a pink elephant: Individual differences in visualisation predict involuntary imagery and its neural correlates.

There are substantial differences in the capacity of people to have imagined visual experiences, ranging from a lifelong inability (Congenital Aphantasia) to people who report having imagined experiences that are as vivid as actually seeing (Hyper-Phantasia). While Congenital Aphantasia has typically been framed as a cognitive deficit, it is possible that a weak or absent ability to have imagined visual sensations is balanced by a heightened resistance to intrusive thoughts - which are experienced as an imagined sensation. Here, we report on a direct test of that proposition.

'I'm sick of being the problem': Autistic mothers' experiences of interacting with schools for their autistic children.

Good relationships between families and schools make a difference to children's learning - and the same goes for autistic children. But parents of autistic children often find it very stressful interacting with teachers and school staff. In this study, we focused on autistic parents of autistic children.

How auditory processing influences the autistic profile: A review.

We need to combine sensory data from various sources to make sense of the world around us. This sensory data helps us understand our surroundings, influencing our experiences and interactions within our everyday environments. Recent interest in sensory-focused approaches to supporting autistic people has fixed on auditory processing-the sense of hearing and the act of listening-and its crucial role in language, communications, and social domains, as well as non-social autism-specific attributes, to understand better how sensory processing might differ in autistic people.

Quality-of-life measurement in randomised controlled trials of mental health interventions for autistic adults: A systematic review.

Autistic people are more likely to have health problems than the general population. They, and people who care about them, have said mental health research is very important, and some autistic adults have said quality of life is the most helpful area to research when focusing on mental health. Autistic people should also be more deeply involved in making decisions in research.

"In a State of Flow": A Qualitative Examination of Autistic Adults' Phenomenological Experiences of Task Immersion.

Background: There is considerable conceptual overlap between Autistic hyperfocus and flow, yet these phenomena have seldom been associated in the literature. Moreover, no studies have provided an in-depth empirical investigation of Autistic people's flow-like or hyperfocus experiences. In this study, we sought to address this gap by investigating Autistic people's phenomenological experiences of task immersion, and how their experiences relate to existing conceptualizations of flow, hyperfocus, and monotropism.

Reporting community involvement in autism research: Findings from the journal Autism.

There has been a growing push for the Autistic and autism communities to be more actively involved in autism research. From January 2021, the journal made it a rule for authors to report whether they involved community members in their work; and if they did, how they had done so. In this study, we wanted to see how this new rule has changed things.

Barriers to and enablers of the transition from child and adolescent to adult mental health services for autistic young people and/or those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: protocol for a scoping review.

Introduction: Autistic young people and/or those with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) who have co-occurring mental health conditions experience significant challenges when transitioning from child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) to adult mental health services (AMHS). However, barriers and facilitators to this service transition are poorly understood for this population. This scoping review aims to synthesise the available evidence on barriers and enablers to the transition from CAMHS to AMHS for autistic young people and/or those with ADHD.

Multiple talker processing in autistic adult listeners.

Accommodating talker variability is a complex and multi-layered cognitive process. It involves shifting attention to the vocal characteristics of the talker as well as the linguistic content of their speech. Due to an interdependence between voice and phonological processing, multi-talker environments typically incur additional processing costs compared to single-talker environments.

'We have so much to offer': Community members' perspectives on autism research.

Autism research is changing. Autistic activists and researchers want Autistic people in the community to have more of a say about what is researched and how. But we haven't asked people in the community what they think.

"I have to charge my social battery": Perspectives from autistic young adults on Quality of Life.

In this study we have asked a group of autistic young adults to describe what is important for their quality of life. The 14 participants (aged 21-29 years) were recruited from a 10-year follow-up study of autistic people. During interviews, our participants described the importance of having relationships with family, friends and pets.

Career progression for autistic people: A scoping review.

Lots of autistic people are unemployed. Even when they are employed, autistic people might be given fewer opportunities than non-autistic people to progress in their careers. For example, assumptions about autistic people's differences in social communication might mean they are not given as many promotions.

Autistic Adults' Priorities for Future Autism Employment Research: Perspectives from the United Kingdom.

Background: A growing body of research has sought to understand autistic people's research priorities. Several of these studies have identified employment as a key research priority. Yet, there have been a few attempts to identify specific, actionable priorities within this area.

Everyday executive function issues from the perspectives of autistic adolescents and their parents: Theoretical and empirical implications.

Autism researchers have a long-time interest in a set of skills called executive function. These skills include planning, inhibition, and switching between one activity and another. There was a theory that these skills explained the social and thinking difficulties autistic people might have.

'It's a symbolic violence': Autistic people's experiences of discrimination at universities in Australia.

Autistic students experience many challenges at university. One significant barrier identified in past research was autistic students' experiences of discrimination (i.e.

'It's really important to be collaborating': Experiences of participatory research for Chinese and Vietnamese parents of autistic children.

Background And Aims: Participatory research involves academic partners working together with the community that is affected by research to make decisions about that research. Such approaches often result in research that is more respectful of, and responsive to, community preferences - and is vital in the context of autism research with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities. Whilst participatory approaches are becoming more commonplace within CALD autism research, no studies have explored the experiences of being involved in autism research from the perspectives of CALD community partners over the course of a study.

Autistic young people adaptively use gaze to facilitate joint attention during multi-gestural dyadic interactions.

Autistic people have been said to have 'problems' with joint attention, that is, looking where someone else is looking. Past studies of joint attention have used tasks that require autistic people to continuously look at and respond to eye-gaze cues. But joint attention can also be done using other social cues, like pointing.

Contributing to an autism biobank: Diverse perspectives from autistic participants, family members and researchers.

A lot of autism research has focused on finding genes that might cause autism. To conduct these genetic studies, researchers have created 'biobanks' - collections of biological samples (such as blood, saliva, urine, stool and hair) and other health information (such as cognitive assessments and medical histories). Our study focused on the Australian Autism Biobank, which collected biological and health information from almost 1000 Australian autistic children and their families.

"He's shouting so loud but nobody's hearing him": A multi-informant study of autistic pupils' experiences of school non-attendance and exclusion.

Background And Aims: Children and young people on the autism spectrum frequently report a range of negative educational experiences and face disproportionally high rates of school non-attendance, including school avoidance and permanent exclusion, which can have a significant impact on their well-being as well as educational and broader life outcomes. To date, few studies have examined the full range of proximal (child, parent/family, school levels) and distal (community and society levels) barriers to ensuring the school attendance and the inclusion of autistic pupils. The current study sought to do just that by examining autistic young peoples' school non-attendance and exclusion experiences from the perspectives of multiple informants.

Autistic adults' experiences of financial wellbeing: Part II.

Money matters in people's lives. It helps to meet people's basic needs (food, clothes, shelter) and live the lives they want to. When people talk about 'financial wellbeing', they mean how much you feel in control over day-to-day finances and how much freedom you have to make choices to enjoy life.

'I live in extremes': A qualitative investigation of Autistic adults' experiences of inertial rest and motion.

'Autistic inertia' is a term used by Autistic people to refer to difficulties with starting and stopping tasks. However, there has not been much research on Autistic inertia. The research that is available on Autistic inertia has mostly focused on the negative aspects of inertia, rather than on the possible benefits of needing to continue tasks.

Poly-victimization of autistic adults: An investigation of individual-level correlates.

Autistic people experience high rates of violence and victimization which is largely due to structural injustices, including stigma and social attitudes. Identifying and addressing systemic and structural factors is vitally important, however effecting change in embedded social structures is likely to take some time, even with concerted efforts. In the meantime, it is important to understand whether there are other individual-level factors that may assist in developing preventative and protective strategies for autistic people.

The workplace masking experiences of autistic, non-autistic neurodivergent and neurotypical adults in the UK.

Masking entails hiding or concealing one's traits during social interactions. Research suggests that masking is particularly common for autistic people, though many non-autistic people also conceal aspects of their identity. Existing research has identified the key motivations and consequences of masking.

Predicting the financial wellbeing of autistic adults: Part I.

Researchers have found the way people feel about their financial situation is related to their quality of life. We know that many autistic people find it hard to find a job. And for those autistic people who have a job, they are often underpaid.

The Foundations of Autistic Flourishing.

Purpose Of Review: All people-including Autistic people-deserve to live flourishing lives. But what does a flourishing life look like for Autistic people? We suggest that the hidden biases, methodological errors, and key assumptions of autism science have obscured answers to this question. Here, we seek to initiate a broader discussion about what the foundations for a good Autistic life might be and how this discussion might be framed.