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Recent research has proposed a specific female phenotype within autism spectrum disorder (ASD). It suggests females exhibit differences in social communication styles with higher levels of camouflaging and compensatory strategies, as well as variance in restrictive repetitive behaviours (RRBs); however, many existing studies have been based on either small, disproportionate or child and adolescent samples, leaving questions about the specific phenotype. This study aims to explore the sex difference and phenotype in a clinic sample of individuals diagnosed with autism.

A service evaluation of sex/ gender differences on 150 historical ASD assessment reports (75 males, 75 females) using a 103-item questionnaire developed from a quantitative review of existing literature was undertaken.

Females camouflaged more significantly than males in five different areas (thinking how to act next, preparing conversation in advance, making lists of prompts/social responses, wearing a mask/acting, less monotone voice); however, these were not maintained in post-analysis correction.

This study points the evidence towards a different phenotype of Autism that is more common in women than men rather than a unique female phenotype.

The purpose of this paper is to place on record the impact made on government policy and research by Autism Cymru, a small charity that existed in Wales between 2001 and 2014. The success of Autism Cymru resulted directly from philanthropic funding, applied with strategic vision and genuine ambition.

A retrospective, chronological viewpoint highlighting the creative process, drawing upon records held by the charity.

Autism Cymru initiated the concept and played a crucial role in steering the development of government policy for autism in Wales between 2001 and 2011. The charity also drove forward the initiative, which led to the establishment of the Wales Autism Research Centre at Cardiff University in 2010. This paper demonstrates that with astute philanthropic support, small learning disability/autism charities can elicit structural and sustainable change at the national level, leading to wide-ranging benefits for the communities they represent.

The strategic approach taken over 20 years ago in Wales by Autism Cymru, which led to the Welsh Government’s ASD Strategic Action Plan for Wales (Welsh Government, 2011), set in place a national policy model, which was then followed by The Scottish Strategy for Autism and the Northern Ireland Autism Strategy (Department of Health, 2013>; Scottish Government, 2011). The insightful and tenacious method used by Autism Cymru remains relevant today, demonstrating that any small charity supported by shrewd philanthropic funding can punch well above its weight by taking a planned, ambitious and strategic approach to policy, research and practice.

The objective of this paper is to study the efficacy of the ASPECTSS Design Index's concepts as drivers of design intervention for educational environments for students on the autism spectrum. Based on the seven principles of acoustics, spatial sequencing, escape spaces, compartmentalization, transitions, sensory zoning and safety, ASPECTSS formed the basis for a preliminary post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and survey of an existing school environment.

Concepts drawn from the review of other strategies for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) friendly design were integrated with the seven ASPECTSS principles to create a design framework and consequent design retro-fit for a Pre-K-12th grade public school for students on the autism spectrum. The following design interventions were proposed: colour-coding based navigation; acoustical treatments in key circulation spaces; introduction of transition alcoves; classroom reorganisation using compartmentalization principles and the introduction of escape spaces for de-escalation. Specifically, a classroom template of modules of ASPECTSS-compliant layouts was provided to all staff. The efficacy and impact of these interventions were assessed using a whole campus online staff survey with further probing using classroom observations and subsequent interviews.

The results show alignment between the implementation of the ASPECTSS informed design interventions and responses to nine of the Likert scale items were all significantly lower than the middle response, indicating a high degree of satisfaction from survey respondents. These questions and responses related to the colour scheme facilitating ease of navigation for visitors of the school, the acoustics of the building successfully mitigating sound magnification and subsequently student distractibility, the organisation of the classrooms enhancing learning and the de-escalation zones allowing improved management of disruptive behaviours in the classroom.

This study focuses primarily on the Autism ASPECTSS Design Index as a framework for assessing classroom efficacy. Other tools and frameworks may produce different insights. A single school site was studied. Validation of these findings in other school environments is necessary before generalising these strategies at scale. The use of qualitative tools, primarily teacher and staff surveys, provides one lens into the efficacy of these design strategies. Further research using measurable biometric indicators such as heart-rate and stress levels measured through wearable technology could provide a first step towards the triangulation of these findings.

These findings could help provide more standardised best practices for designing learning environments for autism, potentially providing supportive strategies with real impact on learning quality, skill development and knowledge acquisition in school environments. This could potentially have economic implications by supporting more efficient progress for autistic students through their school curriculum.

Similar to economic impact, if validated and generalised, these findings could help with sense of accomplishment, general mental health improvement, alleviation of family stress and potential reduction of stigma in the autism community.

There is a slowly emerging field of design guidance for autism schools, but very little empirical evidence on the measurable efficacy of these strategies. This research provides one type of such evidence, as measured by the perceived impact from the point of view of staff and teachers at the school.

People with autism and their families struggle with travel because of its complexity. This study aims to promote travel participation by exploring the travel needs and patterns of people with autism and their families.

A total of 28 participants were interviewed. Data were analyzed via constructivist grounded theory.

People with autism and their families displayed five travel patterns: mutual support, relatives’ visitation, independent travel, expanded socialization and package tours. These patterns were adopted in a stepwise fashion as the autistic individuals’ abilities improved. The travel challenges and support needs of Chinese autistic people and their families were identified.

The findings can inform accessibility tourism, promote an understanding of autistic people’s tourism activities among the public and industry marketers and offer strategic guidance about family travel for this population.

This effort responds to a call to investigate disability-related issues. The study evaluated the travel behavior of people with autism and their families, from a developmental perspective, presenting a new angle in research on accessibility tourism.

Some individuals with autism may engage in violent behaviour. Research into autism specific factors (ASFs) that may contribute to violence is limited. The purpose of this paper is to explore the feasibility of use of an ASF framework which was developed to inform risk formulation and treatment needs.

Retrospective identification and evaluation of ASFs in offenders with autism (N = 13) at childhood, time of index offence and in current risk behaviours. The ASFs described in the framework were repetitive behaviours and circumscribed interests; poor social understanding and empathy; sensitivity to sensory stimulation; and disruption to rigid behavioural routines or difficulties coping with change.

There was evidence for all four ASFs being consistently present in childhood, contributing to violent behaviour at the index offence and current risk behaviours in at least one case. Poor social understanding and empathy was often present at both childhood and index offence in all cases. Of the seven cases with offence paralleling behaviour, five had at least one ASF present at each timepoint.

This proof-of-concept study provides initial support that ASFs play a role in offending behaviour of individuals with autism. Clinicians working in specialist and generic forensic services, with an in-depth knowledge of autism, could use the ASF framework to enhance risk assessments and facilitate more targeted treatment planning for offenders with autism in specialist and general forensic services.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to test the application of the ASF framework in an autistic offending population.

The present paper answers two significant questions: (1) What are the relative consumer and firm-level effects of marketing through metaverse compared to conventional marketing endeavors? (2) What are the current trends in utilizing the metaverse as reported in the recent literature?

This study employs a systematic literature review methodology, utilizing a Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) flowchart to synthesize existing research. Thirty-five articles written in English were selected and analyzed from two databases, Web of Science and EBSCO Host.

The findings indicate that consumer-level effects of the metaverse include consumer loyalty and brand attachment. The firm-level benefits are decentralization and cost reductions. The paper proposes a framework indicating variables that could attenuate or enhance the association between immersive components of the metaverse and their resultant effects.

This study contributes to understanding the role of metaverse in marketing practices related to the marketing mix components. The study conceptualizes a novel framework for the metaverse and its resultant effects.

Parents whose children have undergone an autism assessment often describe the process as extremely stressful. This affects how parents engage with services post-diagnosis, meaning less likelihood of using subsequent service support despite struggling to cope. Since parents already report many barriers to accessing services, e.g. long waiting lists, lack of co-ordination and limited resources (Sapiets et al. 2023), negative experiences during assessment should not pose another potential barrier to engagement. This study aimed to address how families’ needs can be better met during the assessment process.

In this qualitative study, the author conducted semi-structured interviews with 11 parents whose child had undergone an autism assessment in the last five years. Thematic analysis determined key themes.

The six themes were: clarity and communication, access to support and resources, aftercare, recognition of parent concerns, personalisation of the assessment process and concerns around the use of personal protective equipment/online assessments. These themes led to criteria to assess the quality of autism assessment services in line with parent perspectives.

These parent-informed criteria could facilitate the consideration of parents’ views into service evaluations of autism assessment services across the UK.

Previous research indicates that the autism assessment experience is often extremely stressful and overwhelming for families (Crane et al., 2016). Despite this, guidance to improve autism services rarely prioritises the opinions and experiences of service-users and their families. The criteria presented here were derived from themes identified by interviewing parents on their experiences of the autism assessment process, thus shifting the focus onto service-users.

In studies considering the employment of individuals with autism, the organisational context – which consists of the behaviours and attitudes of employees – has frequently been neglected. This study investigates the employment of workers with autism, who have an intellectual disability (AID) in Türkiye. The study aims to understand the perspectives of managers and co-workers with regard to the employment of individuals with AID.

The authors conducted interviews with 23 people who were the co-workers, managers and parents of workers with AID. They also reviewed performance documents concerning employees with AID and analysed the data using qualitative content analysis.

The employment of individuals with AID has caused concern amongst employees within organisations. However, training activities have raised awareness of autism amongst those employees. This new awareness has overcome initial negative judgements about the employment of individuals with AID, turning these instead into positive ones. Thus, social interaction between workers with AID and their co-workers has increased.

This research provides evidence of the positive impact of employees with AID on companies and shows that employing individuals with AID in inclusive contexts improves their quality of life. It also provides guidance for the design of training programmes for employees and the adaptation processes of people with disabilities in the workplace.

This study emphasises the role of the organisational context in the successful employment of people with AID in supported employment settings. It could contribute to changing attitudes and negative expectations and guide interventions in these contexts.

This scoping review aims to (1) summarize research and design writings on residential design for adults on the autism spectrum in peer-reviewed and grey literature, (2) identify research gaps in this field and (3) understand the concept of independent living based on this literature.

A systematic search was conducted in seven databases using 47 search terms related to residence, design and autism. It was supplemented with a manual search for recommended authors and architectural websites.

A final review of 37 sources highlighted that existing residential design guidelines are supported by weak evidence due to the lack of methods for involving and limited direct contact with autistic adults. Moreover, the needs of people living or working with them tend to be overlooked. Finally, the role of independent living has received little attention in the literature on residential design for adults on the spectrum.

The findings show a need for taking on board autistic people's understanding of independent living. Future research about residential design for autistic adults should be conducted with them, in diverse housing settings, providing nuanced insight into their housing needs and those of the people around them.

This scoping review is the first to provide an overview of what is known about residential design for autistic adults with a focus on the concept of independent living.