The Autism Advocacy Group – a project utilising advice from autistic people to improve mental health services

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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Toms, P., Doswell, S., & Ali, D. (2022). The Autism Advocacy Group – a project utilising advice from autistic people to improve mental health services. Clinical Psychology Forum, 1(360), 22-27. https://doi.org/10.53841/bpscpf.2022.1.360.22

Publication date: 1 Dec 2022 Added to AutiHub: 14 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
3
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 3 (33.3%)
  1. Phoebe Toms
  2. Sophie Doswell
  3. Dorota Ali *

Abstract

A project was undertaken, offering advocacy to mental health services across an NHS Trust. Despite a number of challenges, including difficulty recruiting and maintaining advocates and a number of staff changes, advocacy was provided to a range of mental health services. All six services made changes as a result of engaging with the project, expressed an increased understanding of the needs of autistic people and stated that this learning will influence their future work. Advocates fed back that being part of the project was empowering, although improvements could have been made around training and communication, as well as staff knowledge and expertise in relation to project management. Positive outcomes from the project included guidance shared across the Trust, the introduction of a Service User and Carer Advisory Group (SUCAG) and lessons generalised to other co-production projects including a sensory project.

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: 19 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
20
With a DOI
17
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
2 / 20 (10.0%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
3 / 20 (15.0%)
References with detected author names
17 / 20 (85.0%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
3
Without a stable identifier
3
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
95
From DOI or external metadata
95
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
39 / 95 (41.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 56 / 95 (58.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
5 / 95 (5.3%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 5 / 39 (12.8%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 5 / 93 (5.4%).
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  8. Louise Camm-Crosbie , Louise Bradley , Rebecca Shaw , Simon Baron-Cohen , Sarah Cassidy (2019). ‘People like me don’t get support’: Autistic adults’ experiences of support and treatment for mental health difficulties, self-injury and suicidality . Autism, 23(6), 1431-1441. SAGE Publications.
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  9. Johnny L. Matson , Mary Shoemaker (2009). Intellectual disability and its relationship to autism spectrum disorders . Research in Developmental Disabilities, 30(6), 1107-1114. Elsevier BV.
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  10. Edmund Coleman-Fountain , Carole Buckley , Bryony Beresford (2020). Improving mental health in autistic young adults: a qualitative study exploring help-seeking barriers in UK primary care . British Journal of General Practice, 70(694), e356-e363. Royal College of General Practitioners.
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  12. Meng-Chuan Lai , Caroline Kassee , Richard Besney , Sarah Bonato , Laura Hull , Will Mandy et al. (2019). Prevalence of co-occurring mental health diagnoses in the autism population: a systematic review and meta-analysis . The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(10), 819-829. Elsevier BV.
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  14. Rebecca Kuzminski , Julie Netto , Joel Wilson , Torbjorn Falkmer , Angela Chamberlain , Marita Falkmer (2019). Linking knowledge and attitudes: Determining neurotypical knowledge about and attitudes towards autism . PLOS ONE, 14(7), e0220197. Public Library of Science (PLoS).
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  15. Alice Turnock , Kate Langley , Catherine R. G. Jones (2022). Understanding Stigma in Autism: A Narrative Review and Theoretical Model . Autism in Adulthood, 4(1), 76-91. SAGE Publications.
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
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    Crossref
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