This study is an attempt to bridge the gap between the understanding of strengths and challenges of people with autism to operationalize a strength-based approach to serve people with autism effectively. By virtue of being based on firsthand accounts by parents and practitioners the people who spend prolonged periods with people with autism in…

Camouflaging (or otherwise referred to as masking or passing) involves hiding one's autistic-related characteristics and differences to get by in social situations in predominantly non-autistic societies. Very little is known to date about the course of camouflaging motivations and strategies over time or the psychosocial factors that may…

Autistic people have different preferences for friendship than non-autistic people. The aims of the current project were to determine how autistic people prefer to behave in their friendships and how this compares to the friendship practices reported by non-autistic participants. Autistic (n = 102) and non-autistic (n = 107) young adults between…

Autistic students are a growing subgroup within post-secondary schooling; however, little is known about barriers to their success in that context. Research suggests autistic students face more challenges to completing post-secondary education than neurotypical students, but findings often rely on expert opinion and fail to incorporate first-hand…

Despite the documented benefits of nature-based learning (NBL), research around the use of NBL with autistic children from a strengths-based perspective remains sparse. To understand how practitioners perceive the experience of engaging in NBL with autistic children, we interviewed 14 practitioners from the United States, United Kingdom, and…

Lockdown drill practice is part of the "new normal" in schools for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and educational practitioners in K-12 schools across the United States. These drills place a tremendous amount of responsibility on practitioners (i.e., teachers, paraprofessionals) that is beyond the scope of their…

Background: The impact of having a disabled brother or sister on siblings' psychological well-being and sibling relationships has been the subject of several research studies. However, research which focuses on the relationship between siblings and their autistic brother or sister with an intellectual disability and complex care needs is rare. We…

A succession of interconnected environmental factors is believed to contribute substantially to the development of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This exploratory study therefore aims to identify potential risk factors for ASD that are associated with pregnancy, birth and infant feeding. Demographic and health-related data on children aged…

This study investigated the self-reported school experiences of autistic students in Canada using a critical disability framework and a phenomenological research lens. Student perception data were collected using a mixed-method convergent parallel research design. Quantitative survey data (n = 72) and qualitative data (n = 19 open-ended responses…

Spoken narrative skills are crucial to the social and academic success of young people; however, research indicates that this may be an area of challenge for autistic adolescents. Most previous studies have used narrative elicitation tasks that incorporate visual support, and little is known about how autistic adolescents perform on less…

The pattern of behaviors and abilities that reflect the core characteristics of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and an environment that lacks the ability to understand individuals with ASD can make these students targets of bullying. Bullying is a serious problem for students with ASD, and practices against it are important in terms…

This exploratory study examined paediatric practitioners' challenges and considerations when they support caregivers and children with autism regarding children's screen use. Current research often focuses on the problematic use of screen time among children with autism. No clear strategies or recommendations for clinicians to support the…

Tactile defensiveness in autistic individuals is the least investigated sensory modality. The current multi-component, explorative study aimed to understand the experiences of ten autistic adults regarding tactile defensiveness and fabrics, using semi-structured, one-to-one interviews. Participants were asked to discuss the effects of seven…

Few eye tracking studies have examined how people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) visually attend during live interpersonal interaction, and none with the Chinese population. This study used an eye tracker to record the gaze behavior in 20 Chinese children with ASD and 23 children with typical development (TD) when they were engaged in a…

The objective of the current study was to assess how a LEGO intervention, implemented by a grandparent and a parent at home, affected social interactions for four children (two girls, two boys; ages 6-7 years) on the autism spectrum in China. A multiple probe design across four families was used. Grandparents and parents were trained to use…