Autistic adults' perspectives and experiences of diagnostic assessments that include play across the lifespan.

ABSTRACT:

Lay abstract

Play is often included in autism diagnostic assessments. These assessments tend to focus on negatives and how people who are not autistic interpret observable behaviours. It is important to take a neurodiversity-affirmative assessment approach. This involves focusing on what autistic people say and looking at strengths and needs. We wanted to find out how autistic adults experience diagnostic assessments that include play. We asked autistic and non-autistic people to help us design our study and interview questions. We then interviewed 22 autistic adults to find out what they think about the use of play in assessments. We used a qualitative method called interpretative phenomenological analysis to analyse the data. Autistic adults told us about the different ways play

SUBMITTER: Pritchard-Rowe E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11656625 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature