“Unwritten Rules are Everywhere”: Autistic Adults’ Social Experiences in the Transition to Adulthood

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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Wolpe, S. & Tien, I. S. (2026). “Unwritten Rules are Everywhere”: Autistic Adults’ Social Experiences in the Transition to Adulthood. International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 1-21. https://doi.org/10.1080/1034912x.2026.2667971

Publication date: 8 May 2026 Added to AutiHub: 16 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Samara Wolpe
  2. Ingrid S. Tien *

Abstract

Difficulties navigating adult social environments are associated with poorer outcomes for autistic adults. This study examines how autistic adults describe their social challenges and interactions within the context of their transition to adulthood through a series of semi-structured interviews. Seventeen autistic adults (18 and over, Mage = 26.7 years) were interviewed. Themes related to social interactions in education and the workplace were analysed. Data analysis was conducted through the theoretical framework of Critical Disability Theory and utilised reflexive thematic analysis. Participants expressed Difficulties with Initial Social Contact leading to isolation and overstimulation in new environments, difficulties creating Boundaries through lack of understanding of appropriate workplace decorum and topics, Bullying from co-workers and experiencing Growth in their social and professional identities. Participants struggled and embraced Disclosure of autistic identity both in college and in the workplace to co-workers and employers. Lastly, participants provided Employer Recommendations on how to best support their autistic employees. The experiences shared by the participants in this study will pave the way for understanding and re-centring of research priorities to endow young autistic adults with tools for success.

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: 20 Sep 2026 01:01.

Cited references
47
With a DOI
44
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
9 / 47 (19.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 47 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
47 / 47 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
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
191
From DOI or external metadata
191
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
95 / 191 (49.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 96 / 191 (50.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
26 / 191 (13.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 26 / 95 (27.4%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 24 / 171 (14.0%).
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