Homelessness in autistic women: Defining the research agenda

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

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Lockwood Estrin, G., Aseervatham, V., De Barros, C. M., Chapple, T., Churchard, A., Harper, M., Jones, E. J., Mandy, W., Milner, V., O’Brien, S., Senju, A., Smith, C., & Smith, J. (2022). Homelessness in autistic women: Defining the research agenda. Women's Health, 18, 17455057221141291-17455057221141291. https://doi.org/10.1177/17455057221141291

Publication date: 1 Jan 2022 Added to AutiHub: 12 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
13
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 13 (15.4%)
  1. Georgia Lockwood Estrin
  2. Victoria Aseervatham
  3. Clara M De Barros *
  4. Tara Chapple
  5. Alasdair Churchard
  1. Monique Harper
  2. Emily JH Jones
  3. Will Mandy
  4. Victoria Milner
  5. Sarah O’Brien *
  1. Atsushi Senju
  2. Chloe Smith
  3. Jonathan Smith

Abstract

Background: Current evidence suggests that autistic individuals are at high risk for becoming and remaining in a cycle of homelessness. Key risk factors for homelessness disproportionately affect autistic people; however, we have limited understanding of how to best support autistic individuals accessing services. This gap in the evidence base is particularly acute for autistic women. Objective: As a first step to address this gap, we aimed to (1) map gaps in knowledge and practice; (2) identify priority areas for research and (3) develop recommendations for how to implement novel research and practice in this area. Methods: We conducted a collaborative workshop with an interdisciplinary group of 26 stakeholders to address our aims. Stakeholders included autistic women with experience of homelessness, researchers, health professionals, NGO representatives, and service providers. Results and recommendations: Two research priority areas were identified to map the prevalence and demographics of autistic women experiencing homelessness, and to delineate risk and protective factors for homelessness. Priority areas for improving provision of support included staff training to improve communication, awareness of autism and building trust with service providers, and recommendations for practical provision of support by services. Conclusions: Future research is critical to increase our knowledge of the pathways leading to homelessness for autistic women, and barriers to engaging with homelessness and social services. We need to use this knowledge to develop new ways of delivering targeted and inclusive support for autistic women, which could prevent or shorten periods of homelessness.

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
27
With a DOI
16
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
11
1 / 27 (3.7%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
8 / 27 (29.6%)
References with detected author names
19 / 27 (70.4%)
Without detected author names
8
Without a structured title
8
Without a stable identifier
11
References with raw author names still to review
8
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
69
From DOI or external metadata
69
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
13
33 / 69 (47.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 36 / 69 (52.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
4 / 69 (5.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 4 / 33 (12.1%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 4 / 60 (6.7%).
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