I’m Fine with Autistic People, but Other Folks Feel Uncomfortable: Exploring the Gap Between Reported Community Attitudes and Autistic Lived Experience

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Thom-Jones, S., Mizzi, S., & Lowe, J. (2025). I’m Fine with Autistic People, but Other Folks Feel Uncomfortable: Exploring the Gap Between Reported Community Attitudes and Autistic Lived Experience. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0208

Publication date: 14 Apr 2025 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Sandra Thom-Jones *
  2. Simone Mizzi
  3. Jennifer Lowe

Abstract

Background: Studies of community attitudes toward autism often report predominantly positive or neutral attitudes toward autistic people. However, studies of the experiences of autistic people and their families consistently report high levels of stigma, discrimination, and exclusion from society. Methods: Our autistic-led study utilized the “third person” method to assess subconscious attitudes toward autism, by asking participants how they and hypothetical “others” would feel about interacting with autistic people in a range of scenarios. We conducted an online survey using a probability-based panel representative of the Australian population with 1626 non-autistic adults who reported not having close contact with an autistic person. Results: The majority of the participants agreed that there is a need to find better ways to support autistic people and that autistic people should be able to access disability services, although this varied by service type. There were overt differences in participants’ reports of how they would feel about meeting an autistic person and how “other people” would feel in the same situation, with other people consistently described as considerably more likely to feel uncomfortable or very uncomfortable. Participants also reported a lower level of comfort, for both themselves and others, with engaging and interacting with autistic adults compared with autistic children. These findings provide a bridge between studies with and by non-autistic people that report positive attitudes and studies with and by autistic people that report experiences of exclusion, discrimination, and stigmatization. The significant literature on, and lived experience of, autistic children and their families would suggest that there is a considerable element of social desirability bias in responses to surveys of attitudes toward autism and that in reality our communities are populated with these “other” people. Conclusion: Future research into community attitudes should utilize measures such as these that address social desirability bias and explore deeply held beliefs and attitudes that may not be expressed in response to direct questions. Future policy and advocacy interventions should focus on acceptance and appreciation of autistic adults. These are the attitudes we need to change if we are going to build a society that is truly inclusive.

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Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:31.

Cited references
39
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
7 / 39 (17.9%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
8 / 130 (6.2%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 8 / 55 (14.5%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 4 / 107 (3.7%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
55 / 130 (42.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 36 / 107 (33.6%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
47 / 55 (85.5%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 47 / 130 (36.2%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 32 / 36 (88.9%).
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