Improving Substance-Use Services for Autistic Adults: Insights and Recommendations from Autistic Adults

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

About the autistic author marker

Munday, K., Papadopoulos, C., Adkin, T., & Gray-Hammond, D. (2025). Improving Substance-Use Services for Autistic Adults: Insights and Recommendations from Autistic Adults. Autism in Adulthood, Article aut.2024.0213. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2024.0213

Publication date: 2 Apr 2025 Added to AutiHub: 22 Aug 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
3 / 4 (75.0%)

Abstract

Purpose:We aimed to explore autistic substance users’ experiences and their recommendations for improving substance-use services. Methods:We conducted an online cross-sectional questionnaire survey with autistic adults, either self-identifying or formally diagnosed, who reported past or current substance use. We applied reflexive thematic analysis to identify differences and similarities across their diverse narratives. Results:A total of 475 participants completed the questionnaire. Participants shared varied experiences with substance-use services, but three key themes emerged as follows: challenges with service accessibility, gaps in providers’ knowledge about autism, and the need for harm reduction practices tailored to autistic individuals. Participants provided numerous recommendations to enhance the accessibility and appropriateness of these services, emphasizing the value of personalized, inclusive, and neuro-affirming care. Conclusion:Participants recommended that substance-use services improve accessibility by incorporating autistic-led training and adopting trauma-informed, harm-reduction approaches focused on personalized care. We suggest that future research include more in-depth interviews to cocreate resources for both substance-use service professionals and autistic individuals who engage with these services.

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: 23 Oct 2026 07:53.

Cited references
61
With a DOI
56
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
12 / 61 (19.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 61 (3.3%)
References with detected author names
61 / 61 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
0
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
236
From DOI or external metadata
236
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
108 / 236 (45.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 128 / 236 (54.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
30 / 236 (12.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 30 / 108 (27.8%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 27 / 218 (12.4%).
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