Listening to the experts: person-centred approaches to supporting autistic people and people with an intellectual disability in the mental health system
This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.
About the autistic author markerQuinn, A., Wood, A., Lodge, K. M., & Hollins, S. (2023). Listening to the experts: person-centred approaches to supporting autistic people and people with an intellectual disability in the mental health system. BJPsych Advances, 29(5), 308-317. https://doi.org/10.1192/bja.2023.31
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Authors
Abstract
SUMMARY Despite numerous UK government policies aimed at reducing the number of autistic people and people with an intellectual disability in mental health hospitals, little progress has been made, with many experiencing lengthy stays that offer little therapeutic benefit. Once admitted, people are at risk of restrictive interventions and significantly delayed discharge, resulting in trauma. This article draws on the cases of four people to illustrate the limitations of current mental health system approaches to the challenges experienced by autistic people and people with an intellectual disability. The importance of relational working and listening to people is explored, and we demonstrate how this can facilitate the provision of bespoke housing and care packages to enable a successful return to life in the community. Finally, we offer recommendations on the changes urgently needed to ensure that autistic people and people with an intellectual disability can live ordinary lives in their own homes, with timely and effective support from mental health services when needed, just like everyone else.
Bibliography cited by this reference
Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.
Cited bibliography overview
These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 11:55.
- With a DOI
- 19
- Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
- 0
- References with detected author names
- 18 / 21 (85.7%)
- Without detected author names
- 3
- Without a structured title
- 0
- Without a stable identifier
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- References with raw author names still to review
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- References with external metadata lookup issues
- 0
- From DOI or external metadata
- 50
- From validated raw bibliography text
- 0
- Raw names already validated
- 0
- Raw names still to review
- 0
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