April 2025 Monthly Literature Search – Autism-Affirming Care
This month’s literature search connects to April as Autism Awareness Month. The Library highlights resources and peer-reviewed articles with insights to consumers’ perspectives, best practices, and accessible care.
Grey literature
ACTPS Inclusion and Belonging Hub, ACT Government SharePoint Neurodiversity in the workplace
CHS news Neurodiversity Awareness Week: creating an inclusive ED for all children
Full-text articles
Arnold, S. R., Bruce, G., Weise, J., Mills, C. J., Trollor, J. N., & Coxon, K. (2024). Barriers to healthcare for Australian autistic adults. Autism, 28(2), 301–315.
Bernard, S., Teasdale, N., Harris, C., & Girdler, S. (2025). “After this presentation, I feel more confident caring for autistic patients”: The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity. Neurodiversity, 3.
Bölte, S., Alehagen, L., Black, M. H., Hasslinger, J., Wessman, E., Lundin Remnélius, K., Marschik, P. B., D’Arcy, E., Crowson, S., Freeth, M., Seidel, A., Girdler, S., & Zander, E. (2024). The Gestalt of functioning in autism revisited: First revision of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health Core Sets. Autism, 28(9), 2394–2411.
Boshoff, K., Bowen‐Salter, H., Gibbs, D., Phillips, R. L., Porter, L., & Wiles, L. (2021). A meta‐synthesis of how parents of children with autism describe their experience of accessing and using routine healthcare services for their children. Health & Social Care in the Community, 29(6), 1668–1682.
C G Davenport, S., Alshawsh, M., Lee, C., Garrick, A., Brignell, A., Ure, A., & P Johnson, B. (2025). The Meaning of Autism Friendly in Hospital Settings: A Scoping Review of the Autism Community’s Perspectives. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
Calleja, S., Islam, F. M. A., Kingsley, J., & McDonald, R. (2020). Healthcare access for autistic adults. Medicine, 99(29), e20899.
Doherty, M., Chown, N., Martin, N., & Shaw, S. C. K. (2024). Autistic psychiatrists’ experiences of recognising themselves and others as autistic: a qualitative study. BJPsych Open, 10(6), e183.
Doherty, M., McCowan, S., & Shaw, S. C. (2023). Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings. British Journal of Hospital Medicine, 84(4), 1–9.
Gilmore, D., Krantz, M., Weaver, L., & Hand, B. N. (2022). Healthcare service use patterns among autistic adults: A systematic review with narrative synthesis. Autism, 26(2), 317–331.
Gilmore, D., Longo, A., Krantz, M., Radford, D., & Hand, B. N. (2022). Five Ways Providers Can Improve Mental Healthcare for Autistic Adults: A Review of Mental Healthcare Use, Barriers to Care, and Evidence-Based Recommendations. Current Psychiatry Reports, 24(10), 565–571.
Hamdan, S. Z., & Bennett, A. (2024). Autism-Friendly Healthcare: A Narrative Review of the Literature. Cureus.
Hampton, S., Allison, C., Baron-Cohen, S., & Holt, R. (2024). Autistic People’s Perinatal Experiences I: A Survey of Pregnancy Experiences. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 54(1), 211–223.
Harris, H. K., Weissman, L., Friedlaender, E. Y., Neumeyer, A. M., Friedman, A. J., Spence, S. J., Rotman, C., Krauss, S., Broder-Fingert, S., & Weitzman, C. (2024). Optimizing Care for Autistic Patients in Health Care Settings: A Scoping Review and Call to Action. Academic Pediatrics, 24(3), 394–407.
Hersh, M., Mery, P., & Dawson, M. (2024). Older Autistic People, Access and Experiences of Services, and the Factors That Affect This. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(11), 1535.
Johnson, M., Doherty, M., & Shaw, S. C. (2022). Overcoming barriers to autistic health care: towards autism-friendly practices. British Journal of General Practice, 72(719), 255–256.
Kang, L. R. J., Barlott, T., Turpin, M., & Urbanowicz, A. (2022). A trial of the AASPIRE healthcare toolkit with Australian adults on the autism spectrum. Australian Journal of Primary Health, 28(4), 350–356.
Kartoz, C., Wells, M., & Muñoz, S. (2022). Adults and Seniors with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Implications for Person Centered Care. OJIN: The Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 27(3).
Kersten, M., Wilson, N. J., Pracilio, A., Howie, V., Trollor, J., Buckley, T., Morphet, J., Bryce, J., Griffin, K., & Cashin, A. (2023). A scoping review to inform an auditing framework evaluating healthcare environments for inclusion of people with intellectual disability and/or autism. Journal of Intellectual Disabilities.
Kouo, J. L., Kouo, T. S., & Gallogly, J. (2022). Brief Report: The Experiences of Families of Children with an Autism Spectrum Disorder When Seeking Patient-and Family-Centered Care. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52(9), 4172–4180.
Mason, D., Ingham, B., Birtles, H., Michael, C., Scarlett, C., James, I. A., Brown, T., Woodbury-Smith, M., Wilson, C., Finch, T., & Parr, J. R. (2021). How to improve healthcare for autistic people: A qualitative study of the views of autistic people and clinicians. Autism, 25(3), 774–785.
Nicholas, D. B., Muskat, B., Zwaigenbaum, L., Greenblatt, A., Ratnapalan, S., Kilmer, C., Craig, W., Roberts, W., Cohen-Silver, J., Newton, A., & Sharon, R. (2020). Patient- and Family-Centered Care in the Emergency Department for Children With Autism. Pediatrics, 145(Supplement_1), S93–S98.
Norris, J. E., Lei, J., & Maras, K. (2024). Adapting communication with autistic service users: Co-produced adaptations for medical services, employers, and the third sector. Neurodiversity, 2.
O’Hagan, B., Krauss, S. B., Friedman, A. J., Bartolotti, L., Abubakare, O., Broder-Fingert, S., & Augustyn, M. (2023). Identifying Components of Autism Friendly Health Care: An Exploratory Study Using a Modified Delphi Method. Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, 44(1), e12–e18.
Samet, D., & Luterman, S. (2019). See-Hear-Feel-Speak. Pediatric Emergency Care, 35(2), 157–159.
Sandham, V., Hill, A. E., & Hinchliffe, F. (2022). The perspectives of Australian speech pathologists in providing evidence‐based practices to children with autism. International Journal of Language & Communication Disorders, 57(6), 1229–1243.
Stein Duker, L. I., Giffin, W., Taylor, E. E., Shkhyan, L., Pomponio Davidson, A., & Mosqueda, L. (2025). Barriers and facilitators to primary healthcare encounters as reported by autistic adults: a qualitative study. Frontiers in Medicine, 12.
Turnock, A., Langley, K., & Jones, C. R. G. (2022). Understanding Stigma in Autism: A Narrative Review and Theoretical Model. Autism in Adulthood, 4(1), 76–91.
Walsh, C., Lydon, S., O’Dowd, E., & O’Connor, P. (2020). Barriers to Healthcare for Persons with Autism: A Systematic Review of the Literature and Development of A Taxonomy. Developmental Neurorehabilitation, 23(7), 413–430.
Walsh, C., O’Connor, P., Walsh, E., & Lydon, S. (2023). A Systematic Review of Interventions to Improve Healthcare Experiences and Access in Autism. Review Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 10(2), 185–202.
Warreman, E. B., Ester, W. A., Geurts, H. M., Vermeiren, R. R., & Nooteboom, L. A. (2024). How do primary care providers and autistic adults want to improve their primary care? A Delphi-study. Autism, 28(2), 449–460.
Wilson, N. J., Pracilio, A., Kersten, M., Morphet, J., Buckely, T., Trollor, J. N., Griffin, K., Bryce, J., & Cashin, A. (2022). Registered nurses’ awareness and implementation of reasonable adjustments for people with intellectual disability and/or autism. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(8), 2426–2435.