Differentiation of autistic adults’ perceptions of research by gender: a mixed methods exploration

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., Lee, N. M., & Sozeri, S. (2025). Differentiation of autistic adults’ perceptions of research by gender: a mixed methods exploration. Advances in Autism, 11(3), 147-158. https://doi.org/10.1108/aia-03-2024-0021

Publication date: 27 Feb 2025 Added to AutiHub: 17 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Samara Wolpe
  2. Ingrid S. Tien *
  3. Nina Maxwell Lee
  4. Sila Sozeri

Abstract

Purpose The funding breakdown of autism research diverges with the research priorities of the autism community and stakeholders (Putnam et al., 2023), prompting concern about the disconnect between researchers and the autism community (Keating, 2021). This study aims to address this gap in the literature through an exploration of autistic adults’ opinions of the current research landscape and what autism research should address through a survey disseminated to the autistic community. Design/methodology/approach In total, 89 autistic adults completed the survey. Participants rated their agreement to statements with a five-point Likert scale, ranging from “Strongly Disagree” to “Strongly Agree.” Participants were asked “What should autism research be focused on?” and answered via long answer text. Findings A numerical difference was found in participants’ ratings of autism research as more harmful than helpful. Participants who identified as nonbinary felt the research community was significantly less helpful and more harmful to the autistic community than those who identified as male (p < 0.01). Nonbinary participants expressed that community involvement in autism research is lower than those who identified as males or females (p < 0.01). Six main themes were identified: “Representation of Diversity in Gender and Ethnicity,” “Improving Quality of Life,” “A Strength-Based Approach,” “Autistic Subjective Experiences,” “Comorbid Mental and Physical Health Disorders” and “Autistic People Involved in Research.” Originality/value This research identified intersectional relationships between identity and feelings about autism research and explored recommendations from the autistic community on autism research that serves the best interests and desires of the community.

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 00:21.

Cited references
29
With a DOI
28
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
1
7 / 29 (24.1%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 29 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
29 / 29 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
0
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
186
From DOI or external metadata
186
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
98 / 186 (52.7%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 88 / 186 (47.3%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
42 / 186 (22.6%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 42 / 98 (42.9%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 39 / 177 (22.0%).
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