Tuesday, 18 May 2021
A team of autistic people, those who support them and researchers are calling for service providers and policy makers to take immediate action to prevent high rates of suicide amongst autistic people.
The Autism Community Priorities for Suicide Prevention policy brief has been developed by Dr Sarah Cassidy from the University of Nottingham’s School of Psychology in collaboration with autistic people and those who support them, independently facilitated by the James Lind Alliance – an independent organisation who specialise in working with those affected by a condition to prioritise the most important issues to them.
Our research has revealed that as many as 66% of autistic adults feel suicidal at some point in their life and autistic people are up to seven times more likely to die by suicide. In our consultations with autistic people, we found there are numerous barriers that prevent autistic people at risk for suicide from getting the attention, treatment and support they need. Services and policy makers need to act to save lives now.
The barriers identified in the policy brief include a lack of evidence-based assessment tools and interventions to identify and treat suicidal thoughts and behaviours, a lack of access to mental health services and exclusion from conversations about policies and guidelines that affect autistic people.
Research also found that autistic people and those who support them report being excluded from services, not being believed by professionals, and receiving assessments and interventions that have been designed for other groups and therefore are inappropriate for their unique needs.
The team recommend that the most important action that needs to be taken urgently is to remove the barriers to mental health services that autistic people face. The policy brief outlines a number of ways in which this can be achieved, such as identifying autistic people and those with elevated autistic traits as high-risk groups in suicide prevention policy and clinical guidelines and developing research and clinical partnerships with autistic people and those who support them to ensure that future training, intervention and prevention strategies are appropriate.
Dr Cassidy continues: “Taking action to prevent suicide in autistic people needs to be urgently addressed and our policy brief clearly outlines how this can be achieved in partnership with autistic people and those who support them. We have listened carefully to autistic people and their support networks and applied our research and expertise to provide a comprehensive list of recommendations that will ultimately save lives.”
Take this seriously. This is an area of research that needs to be done which is why I am involved. No one autistic person is like another, so they require bespoke, individualised support. What I have learned since my diagnosis is that there is nobody else who is autistic who is exactly like me.
This policy brief was funded by the International Society for Autism Research (INSAR) and Autistica. Ed Smith from Autistica comments on why it is so important that autistic people were involved int his project: “If a policy maker or researcher tries to do their work without asking people about what’s going on in their lives, they’re probably not going to be focusing on the right things and will miss that really valuable insight that can ensure their work is more effective.”
One policy brief is funded by INSAR each year. Applications are highly competitive and funded in high priority areas of crucial importance to the lives of autistic people, with important implications for public policy and clinical practice.
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More information is available from Dr Sarah Cassidy on Sarah.Cassidy@nottingham.ac.uk
Notes to editors:
About the University of Nottingham
Ranked 32 in Europe and 16th in the UK by the QS World University Rankings: Europe 2024, the University of Nottingham is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities. Studying at the University of Nottingham is a life-changing experience, and we pride ourselves on unlocking the potential of our students. We have a pioneering spirit, expressed in the vision of our founder Sir Jesse Boot, which has seen us lead the way in establishing campuses in China and Malaysia - part of a globally connected network of education, research and industrial engagement.
Nottingham was crowned Sports University of the Year by The Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024 – the third time it has been given the honour since 2018 – and by the Daily Mail University Guide 2024.
The university is among the best universities in the UK for the strength of our research, positioned seventh for research power in the UK according to REF 2021. The birthplace of discoveries such as MRI and ibuprofen, our innovations transform lives and tackle global problems such as sustainable food supplies, ending modern slavery, developing greener transport, and reducing reliance on fossil fuels.
The university is a major employer and industry partner - locally and globally - and our graduates are the second most targeted by the UK's top employers, according to The Graduate Market in 2022 report by High Fliers Research.
We lead the Universities for Nottingham initiative, in partnership with Nottingham Trent University, a pioneering collaboration between the city’s two world-class institutions to improve levels of prosperity, opportunity, sustainability, health and wellbeing for residents in the city and region we are proud to call home.
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