A Participatory and Creative Exploration of Autistic Young People’s Experiences of Loneliness

This study sought autistic understandings of loneliness through qualitative design, expanding predominant neurotypical frameworks. We also addressed how ‘not being lonely’ feels, by exploring autistic-led strategies that promote connection and well-being. The sample were 26 autistic young people aged 12 to 24 years old, recruited from mainstream and independent schools and specialist colleges in the UK. The research questions guiding this exploration were a) how autistic young people experience loneliness; and b) what personal strategies promote feelings of connection and wellbeing. Creative and flexible methods of data collection were adopted, and Reflexive Thematic Analysis and participatory data analysis were used to analyse the dataset. The results show that loneliness was described by autistic young people as going beyond the well-known social and emotional domains, including less studied facets of existential, experiential, and positive loneliness. To understand these experiences, we might have to shift our focus from the individual to the behaviour of communities. These findings could support better formulation of interventions for autistic young people and can be a starting point for the development of more suitable measuring instruments.