Adapting Safety Plans for Autistic Adults with Involvement from the Autism Community

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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Goodwin, J., Gordon, I., O'Keeffe, S., Carling, S., Berresford, A., Bhattarai, N., Heslop, P., Nielsen, E., O’Connor, R. C., Ogundimu, E., Pelton, M., Ramsay, S. E., Rodgers, J., Townsend, E., Vale, L., Wilson, C., & Cassidy, S. (2024). Adapting Safety Plans for Autistic Adults with Involvement from the Autism Community. Autism in Adulthood, 7(3), 293-302. https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2023.0124

Journal or book title
Autism in Adulthood
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Volume
7
Issue
3
Pages
293-302
Publication date: 2 Apr 2024 Added to AutiHub: 24 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
17
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 17 (5.9%)
  1. Jane Goodwin
  2. Isabel Gordon
  3. Sally O'Keeffe
  4. Scarlett Carling
  5. Anya Berresford
  6. Nawaraj Bhattarai
  1. Phil Heslop
  2. Emma Nielsen *
  3. Rory C. O’Connor
  4. Emmanuel Ogundimu
  5. Mirabel Pelton
  6. Sheena E. Ramsay
  1. Jacqui Rodgers
  2. Ellen Townsend
  3. Luke Vale
  4. Colin Wilson
  5. Sarah Cassidy

Abstract

Background: Autistic adults are at greater risk of self-harm and suicide than the general population. One promising intervention in the general population is safety planning. We aimed to seek advice from autistic adults and others in the autism community on how to adapt safety plans for autistic adults. Methods: We conducted focus groups with autistic adults (n = 15), family members (n = 5), and service providers (n = 10), about their views of the Autism Adapted Safety Plan (AASP). We also conducted interviews about the acceptability of the AASP with autistic adults who had developed an AASP (n = 8) and with service providers who had supported them (n = 8). We analyzed the focus group and interview transcripts using thematic analysis. Results: Theme 1 highlights conditions needed to make the process of creating the AASP acceptable for autistic adults. This included creating the AASP with someone they could trust and at the right place and time, when they were not in distress or in crisis. Theme 2 describes how safety planning needed to be a creative, flexible, and iterative process. Autistic adults may need help in expressing their emotions and identifying coping strategies, which can be supported through visual resources and suggestions from the service provider. To ensure that the AASP is accessible in times of crisis, it needs to meet the autistic adults' preferences in terms of formatting and how it is stored (i.e., hard copy or electronic). Conclusions: The AASP is a potentially valuable intervention for autistic adults, provided that the process of creating it is flexible and sensitive to individual needs. Further testing of the AASP to assess its clinical effectiveness in reducing suicidal behavior could provide a life-saving intervention for autistic adults. Clinical Trial Registration Number: ISRCTN70594445, Protocol v4: 8/2/22.

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: 3 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
33
With a DOI
27
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
5
8 / 33 (24.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 33 (15.2%)
References with detected author names
28 / 33 (84.8%)
Without detected author names
5
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
5
References with raw author names still to review
5
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
147
From DOI or external metadata
147
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
5
70 / 147 (47.6%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 77 / 147 (52.4%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
11 / 147 (7.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 11 / 70 (15.7%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 9 / 133 (6.8%).
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