‘Society Doesn’t Care About You’: A Qualitative Life-Mapping Study of Neurodivergent People's Experiences of Homelessness

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. two authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

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Blood, L., Williams, G., & Shaw, S. C. (2026). ‘Society Doesn’t Care About You’: A Qualitative Life-Mapping Study of Neurodivergent People's Experiences of Homelessness. Neurodiversity, 4. https://doi.org/10.1177/27546330261447426

Journal or book title
Neurodiversity
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
4
Article number
27546330261447426
Publication date: 1 May 2026 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 3 (66.7%)
  1. Lauren Blood
  2. Gemma Williams *
  3. Sebastian C.K. Shaw *

Abstract

Neurodivergent people appear to be over-represented among homeless populations. Neurotypically-designed systems may exclude neurodivergent people, leading to increased economic hardship and likelihood of homelessness. The research was commissioned by a local authority, to better understand neurodivergent people's experiences of homelessness and accessing support in their region. Six participants shared their experiences through semi-structured interviews and life maps. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to determine patterns across participants’ experiences. Codes were organised into three main themes (a) Ambiguity and Grey Areas, particularly regarding diagnosis, (b) Falling Through the Gaps – critical points at which support was lacking, and (c) Moving Through the Maze – navigating support services. Findings suggest that persistent experiences of exclusion, without appropriate support, contributed towards participants becoming homeless. Participants appeared to internalise these experiences, impacting upon their sense of identity. Improving inclusion in all areas of life, including education and employment, is key to homelessness prevention.

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: 3 Oct 2026 01:00.

Cited references
45
With a DOI
28
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
17
11 / 45 (24.4%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
10 / 45 (22.2%)
References with detected author names
35 / 45 (77.8%)
Without detected author names
10
Without a structured title
10
Without a stable identifier
15
References with raw author names still to review
10
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
109
From DOI or external metadata
109
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
11
66 / 109 (60.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 43 / 109 (39.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
30 / 109 (27.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 30 / 66 (45.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 20 / 96 (20.8%).
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