Swimming with the Current But against the Tide: Reflections of an Autistic Social Worker

Metadata sources used for this reference

OpenAlex Crossref OpenCitations
Learn more about the sources used

Guthrie, J. (2023). Swimming with the Current But against the Tide: Reflections of an Autistic Social Worker. The British Journal of Social Work, 53(3), 1700-1710. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcad039

Publication date: 1 Apr 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
OpenAlex source Publisher source (DOI) Full text

This publication is integrated into AutiHub through:

Authors

Publication authors
1
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 1 (100.0%)
  1. Jenni Guthrie *

Abstract

Abstract Autism in social work generally focuses on working with children or adults who are users of services. This reflexive account focuses on the author’s lived experience as an Autistic social worker in the UK and why it is still important to inform the social work profession about autism. Using the creative and connective power of analogy, the author identifies the strengths Autistic social workers can offer within the trauma of the everyday as an Autistic person, locating this within the context of social work practice. The author challenges the deficit focus on autism within research and practice and offers opportunity to connect with your understanding of autism and what that may mean in terms of developing your own relational, anti-oppressive practice.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Bibliography inclusion overview

These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:30.

Cited references
42
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
8 / 42 (19.0%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
14 / 89 (15.7%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 14 / 43 (32.6%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 12 / 83 (14.5%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
43 / 89 (48.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 39 / 83 (47.0%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
29 / 43 (67.4%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 29 / 89 (32.6%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 27 / 39 (69.2%).
  1. Damian Milton * (2014). Embodied sociality and the conditioned relativism of dispositional diversity . Autonomy, the Critical Journal of Interdisciplinary Autism Studies, 1(3), 1.
    Type: Article OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1599069274
    Crossref OpenAlex
  2. Simon Baron-Cohen (2009). Autism: The Empathizing–Systemizing (E‐S) Theory . Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 1156(1), 68-80. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.2009.04467.x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2028758511
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  3. Cos Michael (2021). Is Being Othered a Co-Occurring Condition of Autism? Autism in Adulthood, 3(2), 118-119. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1089/aut.2021.0019 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3153775139
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  4. Damian Milton * (2012). On the ontological status of autism: the ‘double empathy problem’ . Disability & Society, 27(6), 883-887. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2012.710008 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W1968949608
    AutiHub · Autistic Scholars Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  5. BASW (2018). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B222
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  6. Rosie Cope , Anna Remington (2022). The Strengths and Abilities of Autistic People in the Workplace . Autism in Adulthood, 4(1), 22-31. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1089/aut.2021.0037 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3204469468
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  8. BASW (2019). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B2
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  9. Fiona Gullon-Scott , Cathie Long (2022). FII and Perplexing Presentations: What is the Evidence Base for and against Current Guidelines, and What are the Implications for Social Services? The British Journal of Social Work, 52(7), 4040-4056. Oxford University Press (OUP).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1093/bjsw/bcac037 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4213020807
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  10. BASW (2021). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B3
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  11. Michael Oliver (1983). Social Work with Disabled People . Macmillan Education UK.
    Type: Book DOI: 10.1007/978-1-349-86058-6 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4299557921
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  12. Laura Yliruka , Synnöve Karvinen-Niinikoski (2013). How can We Enhance Productivity in Social Work? Dynamically Reflective Structures, Dialogic Leadership and the Development of Transformative Expertise . Journal of Social Work Practice, 27(2), 191-206. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/02650533.2013.798157 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2109872735
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  14. James David Simon , Reiko Boyd , Andrew M. Subica (2022). Refocusing Intersectionality in Social Work Education: Creating a Brave Space to Discuss Oppression and Privilege . Journal of Social Work Education, 58(1), 34-45. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/10437797.2021.1883492 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3138690656
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  16. Bovell (2020). Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm . Neurodiversity Studies: A New Critical Paradigm.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  17. Eilidh Cage , Zoe Troxell-Whitman (2019). Understanding the Reasons, Contexts and Costs of Camouflaging for Autistic Adults . Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 49(5), 1899-1911. Springer Science and Business Media LLC.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2909219349
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  18. Clements (2021). Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame the Experiences of Families with Disabled Children in Their Interactions with English Local Authority Children’s Services Departments . Institutionalising Parent Carer Blame the Experiences of Families with Disabled Children in Their Interactions with English Local Authority Children’s Services Departments.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  20. CommunityCare (2022). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B9
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  21. Anna Melissa Romualdez , Brett Heasman , Zachary Walker , Jade Davies , Anna Remington (2021). “People Might Understand Me Better”: Diagnostic Disclosure Experiences of Autistic Individuals in the Workplace . Autism in Adulthood, 3(2), 157-167. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1089/aut.2020.0063 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3119850603
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  22. Morton Ann Gernsbacher , Melanie Yergeau * (2019). Empirical failures of the claim that autistic people lack a theory of mind. Archives of Scientific Psychology, 7(1), 102-118. American Psychological Association (APA).
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1037/arc0000067 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W2994917579
    AutiHub · Autistic Scholars Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  23. Rebecca Wood , Francesca Happé (2023). What are the views and experiences of autistic teachers? Findings from an online survey in the UK . Disability & Society, 38(1), 47-72. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/09687599.2021.1916888 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3161009706
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  24. Iris Schneid , Aviad E. Raz (2020). The mask of autism: Social camouflaging and impression management as coping/normalization from the perspectives of autistic adults . Social Science & Medicine, 248, 112826. Elsevier BV.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2020.112826 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3003216866
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  25. Mara Gottlieb (2021). The Case for a Cultural Humility Framework in Social Work Practice . Journal of Ethnic & Cultural Diversity in Social Work, 30(6), 463-481. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/15313204.2020.1753615 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3017087177
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  26. Csikszentmihalyi (1992). Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness . Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  28. Maire Claire Diemer , Emily D Gerstein , April Regester (2022). Autism presentation in female and Black populations: Examining the roles of identity, theory, and systemic inequalities . Autism, 26(8), 1931-1946. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/13623613221113501 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4288084417
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  29. Desiree R. Jones , Kilee M. DeBrabander , Noah J. Sasson (2021). Effects of autism acceptance training on explicit and implicit biases toward autism . Autism, 25(5), 1246-1261. SAGE Publications.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1177/1362361320984896 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W3124162729
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  30. Health Education England (2019). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B17
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  31. HM Government (2021). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B18
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  32. Sarah Martin‐Denham (2022). Marginalisation, autism and school exclusion: caregivers' perspectives . Support for Learning, 37(1), 108-143. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1111/1467-9604.12398 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4212936218
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  34. George A. Michna , Sierra M. Trudel , Melissa A. Bray , Jessica Reinhardt , Jessica Dirsmith , Lea Theodore et al. (2023). Best practices and emerging trends in assessment of trauma in students with autism spectrum disorder . Psychology in the Schools, 60(2), 479-494. Wiley.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1002/pits.22769 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4285087995
    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  35. W. D. Wilder , Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi , Isabella Selega Csikszentmihalyi (1989). Optimal Experience: Psychological Studies of Flow in Consciousness. Man, 24(4), 690. JSTOR.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.2307/2804304 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4237844050
    OpenAlex
  36. Daniel Glenn (2022). Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities . World Futures, 78(5), 339-341. Informa UK Limited.
    Type: Article DOI: 10.1080/02604027.2022.2094194 OpenAlex: https://openalex.org/W4285727398
    OpenAlex
  37. Murray (2020). The Neurodiversity Reader . The Neurodiversity Reader.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  38. Pearson (2022). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B32
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  39. Praslova (2022). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B34
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  40. Solomon (2022). 2023051510163131400_bcad039-B39
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  41. Trowler (2021). A Spectrum of Opportunity: An Exploratory Study of Social Work Practice with Autistic Young Adults and Their Families . A Spectrum of Opportunity: An Exploratory Study of Social Work Practice with Autistic Young Adults and Their Families.
    Type: Other
    Crossref
  42. Amy S. Walker (2021). Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities . Neuroqueer Heresies: Notes on the Neurodiversity Paradigm, Autistic Empowerment, and Postnormal Possibilities..
    Type: Other
    Crossref