Understanding the societal barriers experienced by autistic adults
Not stated
- Funding
- Self-Funded PhD Students Only
- Application deadline
- Year-round applications
About the project
About the Project Research demonstrates that the mental and physical health of autistic adults is significantly poorer than for non-autistic adults (Bishop-Fitzpatrick & Rubenstein, 2019; Cage, 2018). Life expectancy is also shockingly low for autistic adults (Smith DaWalt et al. 2019; Hirvikoski et al. 2016). The way an individual is treated by others, including by society at large, can have a fundamental impact on wellbeing (Cooper et al. 2004). Autism stereotypes can often portray autistic people in a negative way. The result of this can have negative consequences for autistic people (Treweek et al. 2019). This PhD project will involve mixed-methods, the overall aim of which will be to better understand the societal barriers experienced by autistic adults. Certain questions will be most appropriately answered using a qualitative methodology, such as Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, in order to understand the lived experience of being autistic in today’s society. Other questions may be most appropriately answered using large-scale surveys or quantitative analyses of low-level interventions targeted at reducing barriers created by broader society.