“It Helps Make the Fuzzy Go Away”: Autistic Adults' Perspectives on Nature's Relationship with Well-being Through the Life Course

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Friedman, S., Noble, R., Archer, S., Gibson, J., & Hughes, C. (2023). “It Helps Make the Fuzzy Go Away”: Autistic Adults' Perspectives on Nature's Relationship with Well-being Through the Life Course. Autism in Adulthood, 6(2), 192-204. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0009

Publication date: 8 Sep 2023 Added to AutiHub: 12 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
5
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 5 (20.0%)
  1. Samantha Friedman
  2. Roan Noble *
  3. Steph Archer
  4. Jenny Gibson
  5. Claire Hughes

Abstract

Background: While previous work highlights the links between nature and various positive well-being-related outcomes, the experiences of autistic people in nature have received limited empirical research. Our study aimed at gathering autistic adults' perspectives on the relationship between nature and well-being in both childhood and adulthood. Methods: We used an online survey to capture the views of 127 autistic adults across the United Kingdom. Using reflexive thematic analysis, we analyzed responses to three questions focused on nature experiences in childhood and adulthood and how the participants felt that nature was (or was not) related to well-being. Guided by self-determination theory, we used both inductive and deductive analysis. Results: We developed three main themes to reflect the nature experiences of autistic adults: choosing to escape into nature, supporting relatedness through connecting in (and to) nature, and nature doesn't judge, but other people do. Compared with many other contexts, nature provides a non-judgmental space through which (in both childhood and adulthood) many, but not all, autistic individuals can meet individual needs and experience autonomy, relatedness, and competence. Conclusion: This analysis of how autistic adults in the United Kingdom utilize nature to support well-being has implications for how nature can be used in social prescribing as well as in ensuring that existing outdoor spaces, organizations, and activities are supportive of autistic people.

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: 12 Sep 2026 17:55.

Cited references
66
With a DOI
57
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
9
8 / 66 (12.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 66 (4.5%)
References with detected author names
63 / 66 (95.5%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
8
References with raw author names still to review
3
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
233
From DOI or external metadata
233
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
7
103 / 233 (44.2%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 130 / 233 (55.8%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
21 / 233 (9.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 21 / 103 (20.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 20 / 205 (9.8%).
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