“Welcomed as I am, not as I am expected to be”: towards development of peer support for Autistic people with Eating Disorders

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Sader, M., Llowarch, N., Gerlof, J., Emmerson, F., Maloney, E., Duffy, F., & Gillespie-Smith, K. (2026). “Welcomed as I am, not as I am expected to be”: towards development of peer support for Autistic people with Eating Disorders. Eating Disorders, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/10640266.2026.2691121

Publication date: 6 Jul 2026 Added to AutiHub: 8 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
7
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 7 (14.3%)
  1. Michelle Sader
  2. Nicola Llowarch
  3. Jill Gerlof
  4. Fiona Emmerson
  1. Ellen Maloney *
  2. Fiona Duffy
  3. Karri Gillespie-Smith

Abstract

Autistic people with eating disorders (ED) report different experiences and needs for ED treatment with a need to expand what existing support looks like. This qualitative study seeks to investigate the perspectives of Autistic people to examine whether peer support may play a role in ED recovery. Twenty-five Autistic adults with experience of EDs completed a survey enquiring about peer support for their community. Survey answers were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis to generate emerging themes surrounding the perspectives and views towards bespoke peer support. Four identified themes encompass the importance and purpose of peer support for Autistic people with an ED: 1) Peer support to validate the unique considerations for Autistic people with an ED; 2) The importance of peer support to build a positive Autistic identity; 3) 'Welcomed as I am, not as I am expected to be": Autistic people's hopes for peer support; 4) Where peer support may harm rather than help. This study is the first to establish community-led views towards the importance and purpose underlying peer support for Autistic adults with an ED. Generated themes can serve as an evidence base for future autism-affirming peer support for ED recovery.

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 17:07.

Cited references
40
With a DOI
37
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
11 / 40 (27.5%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 40 (2.5%)
References with detected author names
39 / 40 (97.5%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
1
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
191
From DOI or external metadata
191
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
114 / 191 (59.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 77 / 191 (40.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
17 / 191 (8.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 17 / 114 (14.9%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 13 / 152 (8.6%).
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