Autistic adults’ personal experiences of navigating a social world prior to and during Covid-19 lockdown in Spain

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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Lois Mosquera, M., Mandy, W., Pavlopoulou, G., & Dimitriou, D. (2021). Autistic adults’ personal experiences of navigating a social world prior to and during Covid-19 lockdown in Spain. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 117, 104057. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ridd.2021.104057

Publication date: 6 Aug 2021 Added to AutiHub: 7 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Miguel Lois Mosquera *
  2. Will Mandy
  3. Georgia Pavlopoulou
  4. Dagmara Dimitriou

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus pandemic brought significant movement restrictions and national lockdowns. These drastic changes impacted routines, social life and support networks for the autistic community. AIMS: This study investigated the lived experiences of autistic adults with social expectations before and during the first Covid-19 lockdown in Spain. METHODS: A qualitative Reflexive Thematic Analysis was applied to 10 Photo Elicitation Interviews using images provided by five autistic adults. Interviews were conducted at two time points, before the pandemic and during the first lockdown. FINDINGS: Three themes before the pandemic were identified: (1) everyday interactions, (2) finding sense of belonging, and (3) fractured wellbeing, which revealed the participants' eagerness to fit in socially whilst experiencing rejection, weakening their mental health. During the first Covid-19 lockdown, two master themes were identified: (1) daily, positive experiences, and (2) surfacing failures, which emphasised an increased lived stigma as well as an ineffective autism support network, contributing to a heightened anxiety. CONCLUSIONS: The current study provides further support to the recent findings highlighting lack of appropriate mental health support for the autistic communities during the pandemic, across the world. Future research should aim to provide more data on the experiences and needs of autistic communities when sudden societal changes are imposed.

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.

Cited references
50
With a DOI
39
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
11
5 / 50 (10.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 50 (2.0%)
References with detected author names
49 / 50 (98.0%)
Without detected author names
1
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
8
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
138
From DOI or external metadata
138
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
1
68 / 138 (49.3%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 70 / 138 (50.7%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
10 / 138 (7.2%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 10 / 68 (14.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 8 / 118 (6.8%).
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