Autistic voice: Sharing autistic children’s experiences and insights

There is a critical lack of exploration into the first-hand experiences of autistic children in the psychological literature. We sought to address this using baseline data from a wider mixed-methods study. 136 autistic children (mean age=10.35) completed an online questionnaire. Questions explored children’s understanding of autism, their feelings about being autistic in different contexts, and challenges experienced. Quantitative data revealed limited autism knowledge and understanding in some. Challenges included talking about being autistic and self-advocating for needs, especially with non-family members. Children generally recognised both strengths and challenges of being autistic, although concerns about feeling/being different were widespread, and masking common. Strikingly, although most children felt positive about being autistic at home, significantly fewer felt this to be true when around peers or teachers. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four main themes were developed: (1) Overwhelming Experiences, (2) Unsafe People, (3) Sanctuary, (4) Autistic Identity. Overall, the children felt safest at home with family and/or with autistic/neurodivergent/understanding friends, but most unsafe at school with their teachers and neurotypical peers, where victimization was rife. These findings offer valuable insights into the lives of autistic children, and demand we explore how places of education can be transformed into safe spaces for autistic children.