Community Priorities for Preventing Suicide in Autistic People: An Approach to Guide Policy and Practice

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Moseley, R. L., Procyshyn, T., Chikaura, T., Marsden, S. J., Parsons, T. A., Cassidy, S., Allison, C. T., Pelton, M., Weir, E., Crichton, D., Mosse, D., Rodgers, J., Hall, I., Owens, L., Cheyette, J., Hodges, H., Hedley, D., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2026). Community Priorities for Preventing Suicide in Autistic People: An Approach to Guide Policy and Practice. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581261415764

Publication date: 11 Feb 2026 Added to AutiHub: 1 Oct 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
18
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 18 (11.1%)
  1. Rachel L. Moseley *
  2. Tanya Procyshyn
  3. Tanatswa Chikaura
  4. Sarah J. Marsden
  5. Tracey A. Parsons *
  6. Sarah Cassidy
  1. Carrie T. Allison
  2. Mirabel Pelton
  3. Elizabeth Weir
  4. David Crichton
  5. David Mosse
  6. Jacqui Rodgers
  1. Ian Hall
  2. Lewis Owens
  3. Jon Cheyette
  4. Holly Hodges
  5. Darren Hedley
  6. Simon Baron-Cohen

Abstract

Background: Suicide is a leading cause of death for autistic people worldwide, but there is remarkably little research addressing suicide prevention strategies in this group, and virtually none that asks autistic people what they need and want. Methods: Overall, 3962 autistic people and 627 people who supported or were bereaved by the suicide of an autistic person (>95% UK-based) participated in our online surveys. We garnered their ideas for policies and interventions to prevent suicide in autistic people (Phase 1). We thematically analyzed 2373 suggestions, distilling these into 63 ideas which an independent sample prioritized (Phase 2). We identified shared and differential priorities between participants. Results: Across two samples of autistic and non-autistic people, differences were overshadowed by consensus on necessary pathways to suicide prevention. Paramount among these were the upskilling and resourcing of healthcare services to deliver timely, autism-specific support, and the improvement of diagnostic services, ensuring autistic people not diagnosed in childhood are assessed accurately, quickly, and with sensitive post-diagnostic care. Other priorities, across phases, emphasized a social, societal response to suicide in autistic people, one where reducing stigma and providing social support were favored over crisis apps, and where support should be embedded across the life course in relation to education, employment, and social care in the community. Conclusion: While UK-centric, the findings corroborate international calls for autism-specific support for people in crisis, delivered by those with specialist knowledge. These results also highlight the relationship between suicide prevention and timely autism diagnosis, and the essential need for post-diagnostic care. Mirroring shifts in national and international suicide prevention policy, participant priorities extend the focal point of suicide prevention beyond individuals in crisis, emphasizing the need for coordinated, multisector efforts to address systemic societal determinants of suicide: a strategic and expansive perspective thus far lacking in an autism context.

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Bibliography cited by this reference

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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: 2 Oct 2026 01:01.

Cited references
62
With a DOI
46
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
16
19 / 62 (30.6%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
7 / 62 (11.3%)
References with detected author names
55 / 62 (88.7%)
Without detected author names
7
Without a structured title
7
Without a stable identifier
16
References with raw author names still to review
7
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
551
From DOI or external metadata
551
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
9
402 / 551 (73.0%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 149 / 551 (27.0%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
32 / 551 (5.8%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 32 / 402 (8.0%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 29 / 503 (5.8%).
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