Does learning you are autistic at a younger age lead to better adult outcomes? A participatory exploration of the perspectives of autistic university students

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. three authors of this publication are identified as autistic in the project.

About the autistic author marker

Oredipe, T., Kofner, B., Riccio, A., Cage, E., Vincent, J., Kapp, S. K., Dwyer, P., & Gillespie-Lynch, K. (2022). Does learning you are autistic at a younger age lead to better adult outcomes? A participatory exploration of the perspectives of autistic university students. Autism, 27(1), 200-212. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613221086700

Publication date: 11 Apr 2022 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
3 / 8 (37.5%)

Abstract

Many autistic people do not learn they are autistic until adulthood. Parents may wait to tell a child they are autistic until they feel the child is “ready.” In this study, a participatory team of autistic and non-autistic researchers examined whether learning one is autistic at a younger age is associated with heightened well-being and Autism-Specific Quality of Life among autistic university students. Autistic students ( n = 78) completed an online survey. They shared when and how they learned they were autistic, how they felt about autism when first learning they are autistic and now, and when they would tell autistic children about their autism. Learning one is autistic earlier was associated with heightened quality of life and well-being in adulthood. However, learning one is autistic at an older age was associated with more positive emotions about autism when first learning one is autistic. Participants expressed both positive and negative emotions about autism and highlighted contextual factors to consider when telling a child about autism. Findings suggest that telling a child that they are autistic at a younger age empowers them by providing access to support and a foundation for self-understanding that helps them thrive in adulthood. Lay abstract People learn they are autistic at different ages. We wanted to know if telling kids they are autistic earlier helps them feel better about their lives when they grow up. We are a team of autistic and non-autistic students and professors. Seventy-eight autistic university students did our online survey. They shared how they found out they were autistic and how they felt about being autistic. They also shared how they feel about their lives now. Around the same number of students learned they were autistic from doctors and parents. Students who learned they were autistic when they were younger felt happier about their lives than people who learned they were autistic when they were older. Students who learned they were autistic when they were older felt happier about being autistic when they first found out than people who did not have to wait as long. Our study shows that it is probably best to tell people they are autistic as soon as possible. The students who did our study did not think it was a good idea to wait until children are adults to tell them they are autistic. They said that parents should tell their children they are autistic in ways that help them understand and feel good about who they are.

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: 2 Oct 2026 08:02.

Cited references
74
With a DOI
68
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
6
13 / 74 (17.6%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
5 / 74 (6.8%)
References with detected author names
71 / 74 (95.9%)
Without detected author names
3
Without a structured title
5
Without a stable identifier
6
References with raw author names still to review
3
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
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
267
From DOI or external metadata
267
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
3
123 / 267 (46.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 144 / 267 (53.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
21 / 267 (7.9%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 21 / 123 (17.1%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 16 / 239 (6.7%).
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