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. 2021 Oct;51(10):3677-3689.
doi: 10.1007/s10803-020-04819-3. Epub 2021 Jan 3.

Autism in Australia: Community Knowledge and Autistic People's Experiences

Sandra C Jones  1 , Muhammad Akram  2 , Chloe S Gordon  3 , Nicole Murphy  3 , Fiona Sharkie  4
Affiliations

Autism in Australia: Community Knowledge and Autistic People's Experiences

Sandra C Jones et al. J Autism Dev Disord. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

This paper presents two studies that explored community attitudes to autism in Australia; and autistic people and their families' perspectives of community attitudes. In Study One 2424 (primarily non-autistic) people completed a survey on autism-related knowledge and attitudes; identifying a number of misperceptions and knowledge gaps in the general community. In Study Two 1353 people (primarily parents and carers of autistic people) completed a survey on autism-related experiences; identifying that the community's awareness of autism does not appear to extend to understanding how to support autistic people. There is a need for more research which integrates the perspectives of both autistic people and the broader community; and the development of communication and education interventions, with rather than about autistic people.

Keywords: Attitudes; Autism; Community perceptions; Knowledge; Understanding.

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