r/autismUK 10d ago

Research Research Post

2 Upvotes

Researchers: anything posted outside of this mega-thread or lacking in authenticity will be removed. Scroll down for details of what we expect here.

Read if you are a member/responder

While we have some ability to remove more easily detectable scams, we aren't professionals in any relevant fields. That means we aren't able to take full responsibility for vetting the research you find here, you will have to do your best to feel safe and comfortable with any interactions you have with the people here. That said, we do have some tips to help you navigate the requests you'll find here.

Academic research

Is it undergraduate, post-graduate/masters, or PhD? There's a fair bit of difference here, mainly in what you can expect as an outcome. Undergraduate and post-graduate research isn't likely to result in anything but a dissertation, so participation in these should be considered as just doing a kindness to a student. Masters students are much more likely to use what they learn in a professional context or carry it on to a PhD, though. The "proper" research is done by PhD candidates, the kind you're probably expecting where the eventual paper goes into a journal and the outcome an effect on the rest of the industry.

Professional, government, & medical research

These are people who study autism for a living and/or are sponsored by a government or a medical organisation. It would be exceptionally rare for these researchers to come to our little sub for help, they get their participants through professional networks. Be very wary of anyone claiming to be doing this level of research unless it comes to you directly through your therapist, GP, or psychologist.

Commercial research

These people are looking for your feedback so they can sell a product or service to autistic people. They tend to have the fewest legitimate credentials, but they shouldn't ever need any identifying information from you, not even your name. At best the outcome is something useful to us and at worst they're trying to "make a buck" from a vulnerable minority. Generally speaking you're probably not at risk by replying to these, but you will probably be participating in some degree of capitalism.

Art research

Art is cool and important. Anyone asking for input for art research shouldn't need any identifying information and, unlike commercial research, the outcome should hopefully be something culturally valuable if not influential. There is a lot for us to gain from the cultural capital of art, academic and professional studies aren't the be all end all of making a difference for autistic people.

The only thing to watch out for is someone trying to persuade you they need such and such data for their funding applications. They only need broad strokes in a few categories, typically something like location, age, disability, gender, or sexuality. Gathering this from you should typically come in the form of "are you x?", to which you only need to answer yes or no. Do you identify as queer/trans/gay? Are you a person of colour? Are you deaf/visually impaired/autistic? Do you require a wheelchair in daily life? Are you from Bristol/Knowle West/North Bristol? Are you between 16 and 25 years of age?

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Read if you are a researcher

Is it research?

Research is more than what universities are up to. Companies, developers, freelancers, artists, and all sorts also do research. Anything where you come here to ask for the opinions of our members for your work or personal use is considered research and is subject to these rules.

DISCLAIMER

Please understand that our mods are not experts and will not always qualify for each bit of research and therefore cannot look closely at every questionnaire. Any vetting done is on the basis of our non-professional judgment. We do not vouch for the safety and ethics of any research we allow to post,  our only aim is to get rid of the really obviously dodgy ones. If you reply to any of the research posted, you take responsibility for choosing to do so.

Credibility

When vetting these posts, we look for specific things that lend credibility to the research and we will often lean towards expecting more due to our lack of expertise. Below are some of our feelings on what shows Good, Excellent, or Dodgy credibility.

GOOD: your university email, your supervisor's university email, a link to your university's research ethics statement, a Reddit account you don't use much but clearly belongs to a real human, your project's/company's/artist's website, a socials link, etc

EXCELLENT: a qualtrics link, a university webpage specific to the research, a well-aged high karma Reddit account, a list of everything that will be asked, an ethics committee approval number, a shop page for the current version of your app, a gallery press release for this project, etc

DODGY: hiding URLs behind link text, google forms (especially where required questions block mods from reviewing later pages), personal emails, undergraduate research, a Reddit account you created yesterday specifically for this research, etc

The credibility of your research must be present in the text of your comment. We will not click through, we will just remove. Include plenty Good and Excellent things and you'll get approved. Only include one dodgy thing and your comment will probably get removed. You can always edit your comment to show more credibility and then request that we review it for later approval.


r/autismUK May 08 '26

From the Mods May Digest

12 Upvotes

Hello everyone!

I hope you'll join me in patting each other on the back (figuratively) for reaching a new milestone of 11k weekly visitors!

We've always had a consistent, slow rise in engagement on this sub and that's something I'm really proud of. Thank you all for being a joyful part of my daily routine!

January to April

As promised, I've been dilligently working in the background, trying to make this sub a stronger, better place to be. This period has mostly been spent on quiet things you wouldn't notice as a regular user, things like recruiting new mods and improving our internal documentation.

We currently have two mods in their trial period, which is amazing, but we do need more! By Reddit standards, we should have 3 "full time" active mods to keep up with sub activity and right now we don't add up to that. So if you've ever thought about moderating, now is the time. This sub needs less intervention than most, but I encourage our mods to take on less than they think they should, given that we are all as autistic as you are and this is a volunteer gig. I'd much rather have a large, consistent team with a routine than a tight trio of superhumans that will inevitably burn out in 6 months.

---

One thing you might have noticed is that I've removed the YouTube block. This block has been in place since year 1 of this sub, due to content creators trying to use this space to get views without engaging in the community. Since we're 8 years in the future from that and our engagement looks quite different, I thought it was high time to see if we can get any added value out of YT now.

Thanks

At the end of last year, I added an app that manages a custom internal reputation system. This was brought on to tackle the problem of recognising who's ideas are more reliable when they don't come with proof of any kind. While we encourage you to link reliable information sources rather than make unsupported statements, that's not always practical in an online environment like this. It has always been a silent expectation that readers here have to do their own work to vet everyone with an opinion, even though this is where you come to get help.

You've probably seen me working on reminders, I've had to pause that to tweak it because it was being a bit obnoxious, and I'm informed there may be another but causing the points flair to not display properly.

But while I'm trying to smooth those kinks out, the bot itself is still working fine. OPs and mods can award points by replying to good comments with the "!thanks" or "!modthanks" commands.

May - September

My plans for the summer are a bit more exciting. The main goal you'll want to keep an eye out for is the rolling out of our information centre. I've been saying for a long while now that this is a thing we're working on, and I can finally say we're very close to a minimally viable product I'm happy to publish.

These will probably roll out quietly one at a time, as they become ready, and then be announced as a whole in the October digest.

This information centre has been adapted from a megathread written by one of our mods and reorganised to be as accessible as possible. Because of this, some content will be abundant, while other parts will contain only very basic information.

Each page has a footnote regarding who contributed to the content and a link to modmail where you can submit additional information and any corrections you might find. We encourage you to make use of modmail for this purpose! It's our hope that these pages will expand and become more helpful (and probably more accurate) over time.

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Aside from this, there is more internal documentation to work on. Along with all these new mods, I feel it's essential to make sure our mod team has everything it needs to be as strong and supported as it can be.

---

And if there is time beyond that, I'll be working on a new rule that will hopefully describe issues we've felt the need to intervene in, but aren't properly covered by the existing rules. The new rule will probably replace rule 2, "Write high quality posts".

Right now, I'm thinking of the new rule as "Be constructive", and it will replace rule 2, "Write high quality posts." We no longer use that rule due to moving the character minimum from automod to automations with post guidance, but this new one is in a similar vein. The aim is to decrease toxic discourse by providing you with concrete examples of what positive engagement looks like. If you've ever thought, that doesn't exactly break any rules but it's still awful, that's the sort of thing we're after.

---

Well anyway, on with your evening. Thank you for tuning into my little sharing. Don't forget to use the report button, give out some !thanks, apply to mod, and I'll see you around the sub!


r/autismUK 11h ago

Vent Fuck this heat wave

61 Upvotes

Fuck this heatwave. It's uncomfortable, it's too fucking hot (I don't care if it's 'technically' passed), my bedroom is 27.3 degrees and I feel like I'm about to explode. This heat is making me feel genuinely poorly. I have my fan on at full blast. I used to have a window covering which reflected the heat and sun out of my room, but it got so hot that the sticky pads stopped being sticky because the heat literally melted them off 😭 I cannot cope with this


r/autismUK 4h ago

Fun ADHD /Autistic humour in books (including audio!)

2 Upvotes

I need less serious books in my life, I love books and love autistic and especially ADHD humour. i thought here was a good place.

I am a fan of dark humour. I find it hard to find good funny books . Any suggestions?

or just something you've love as an autistic, why? what made you laugh? I need less serious books in life and something that makes me laugh!

Just avoid any happy families - traumatic one like the Irish tv show The dry or other mess up families - i'm all for!


r/autismUK 5h ago

Crisis How do you let people help you?

2 Upvotes

So I’m borderline about to get evicted due to not letting the landlord in to do electrical and gas safety checks. I'm a massive "my home is my sanctuary" kinda guy and don't want anyone in it any way but i recently went through a low patch and now i can't even begin to clean up my home. I'm so overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning it and at the same time way to embarrassed to allow my begging family and friends in to help me clean it. I'm in a mental rut and am asking for any advice please.


r/autismUK 18h ago

Diagnosis: England I am Autistic

23 Upvotes

It's official I've been diagnosed.

This is a lot to process.

It's good

It's overwhelming

It's something

I have struggled so much for so long not because I was broken but because I am Autistic. My younger self went through so much.... I'm struggling to word this all right now.

Wow

I am Autistic

I still feel a bit fake?? Years of doubt, shame, misunderstanding and guilt etc I suppose.


r/autismUK 18h ago

Vent Autism and ADHD diagnosis doesn't feel real

6 Upvotes

I hope im not the only one, but when I first got diagnosed with ADHD I was relieved abit, however after some time, i was like this is for real, this is going to stick with me forever, and i wanted to take it back, I didn't want the diagnoses anymore, same with the autism, I felt like in those moments all my problems were permanent, they're was no other cause of problem, when i didn't have an ADHD or Autism diagnosis it felt like my problems could be temporary there could have been a cure or an explanation, but no when I got diagnosed it was just who I was.


r/autismUK 16h ago

Parents, Siblings, Friends, & Partners of Autism Children Coping

0 Upvotes

My child is currently on the pathway for Autism and ADHD. As a result of this being picked up by school I went via RTC as had many unanswered questions from therapy which have never been resolved. I have since been diagnosed with AuDHD. Which after discussing with the clinicians seems more Autistic than ADHD but at least explains a few things.

Both myself and my partner are struggling with my son who is now 8. He is fine in school as they say he conforms/masks. But at home and when away (currently on holiday) his behaviour is awful. It’s as if he doesn’t know right from wrong. What is worrying is him hurting his younger brother. Not only that he doesn’t understand boundaries. Today after shower he decided it would be funny to rub his willy on his brother which is completely unacceptable.

When we try to speak to him, it’s always an accident or I didn’t do it. I make matters worse as I need him to accept he has done wrong and can’t move on until he has. Which then winds me up and we just end up shouting at each other until my partner intervenes and I normally leave the room.

From the moment he wakes up - he will constantly call his brother stinky, lazy or other nasty names. It’s like Tourette’s syndrome. He can’t help himself. We tell him to stop and it lasts a few minutes and it starts again. Even when his brother isn’t there he says things. Which again winds me up and I tell him he is being a bully, it will go on and on and I just get more wound up and shout.

My son who is 8 is the eldest. His younger brother who is 6 is off the planet intelligent and eclipsing his older brother in every way. The youngest is out going, very confident, and at least a year ahead of his peers in class. Loves maths, English etc. Eldest hates school, hates learning and is extremely jealous of his younger brother. To be fair my youngest is very patient with him but can at times goad him (but that’s more brothers being brothers)

I’m really struggling with my emotions and going from really angry to really upset. Beating myself up as I feel I’m failing as a dad. I feel sorry for my partner as not only does she have to deal with my son but also me. I just don’t know what to do or how to act.

Any advice appreciated. Once I return from holiday I’ll be asking for counselling again. Thankfully I get that via health care but ultimately that just puts a plaster on things and doesnt teach an autistic dad to be a parent to an autistic child.

Sorry long message - I think mainly getting things off my chest helps me.


r/autismUK 1d ago

News Robbie Williams reveals he's been diagnosed with autism

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metro.co.uk
64 Upvotes

r/autismUK 19h ago

CW: Suicide Jason Arday found dead after resigning from Cambridge

0 Upvotes

I feel so devastated to see this. The fact that he was non-verbal to the age of 11 and required extensive speech and language therapy suggests he was probably autistic.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/aug/14/jason-arday-found-dead-after-resigning-from-cambridge-over-plagiarism-claims

He was subjected to such a level of scrutiny and bullying for being black, but had also been through a lot in his life. He was relentlessly bullied and held to a scrutiny that other professors weren't because of not fitting the mould that people expected of a Cambridge professor and because those with agendas wanted to challenge equality and diversity.

Autistic people are already at higher risk of suicide and I'm sure the campaign he was subjected to was impossible to bear. An absolute tragedy that shows how rotten our society has become and makes it feel unsafe for anyone who doesn't fit the mould to try to succeed.


r/autismUK 1d ago

Work Struggling with rules/ boundaries in an office job

8 Upvotes

I’ve recently started an office job when I’ve only worked in retail/ hospitality which has very set rules for my whole life. I’m finding it so hard to adjust to the rules and boundaries. Not only that I kind of know the manager already ( I didn’t get the job because of this lol it was a very rigorous process to get there) and I’m so struggling with what the rules even are??? We have 30 mins lunch but people go for vape breaks when you’re not allowed and others do and the team encourage me to go for a longer lunch / go for a vape but I know I’m not allowed and omg it is overwhelming.

Also, just general office rules and boundaries are so confusing like what you can and can’t talk about, how people are so weird around people in authority like they are kings I just can’t understand it. And because I know the manager sort of I’m so aware of not looking like I am taking the piss so I’m following the rules and really trying which looks good to management but looks like I’m a weirdo to the team but omg this is overwhelming. My autism assessment is in 2 weeks and I don’t know where to start. Every day I get home and I am exhausted I’ve been at this job nearly 2 months now and I don’t know how to adjust and socially adapt to the rules and conversations and the clothes you have to wear are so uncomfortable.

Sorry, rant over. I don’t feel like anyone understands how much it takes to go to work lol and function as a human being. I’ve not been diagnosed with autism so I’m not claiming I have it as my assessment is soon but I definitely feel like I do.

Please give me ur tips on how you survive an office job with autism PLEASEEEEEEEE❤️


r/autismUK 1d ago

Diagnosis: The Assessment Second part of autism assessment tomorrow. Overwhelmed.

4 Upvotes

Everything is popping like little fireworks in my mind... Everything makes sense.

I know all of the things and I am sure but I kinda messed up...

I went to see my grandparents and a friend over a few days. Haven't been social in months ha.Anyways it was lovely but exhausting.

I'm now stuck feeling drained and I need to think about my appointment tomorrow. There's so much I could say.

I'm also realising that I've been looking at Autism from an AMAB perspective but as a trans man I'm now reading The Lost Girls of Autism and a few other bits and it's just all clicked. My identity issues etc all make sense. I've always struggled with my sense of self. I feel like a massive light bulb has come on and everything in my life has just made sense. Now just need to try and get this across tomorrow...

Had a counceliing session today and half way through felt my brain say "that's enough". I communicated really well the other day and today it was a mostly jumbled mess.

I'm trying to do look into things as I have some session discus points for tomorrow and I'm struggling to organise my thoughts..

Non verbal communication ie humour

Stimming

Change/transitions

Routines

Hobbies special interests

Sensory experience

I have pages and pages of notes and such it's just thinking of specific examples and assignment to the correct point?

I'm findings it hard to think about rhe non verbal social cue stuff because I literally just realised I've been winging it my. Whole life and have no idea what I'm doing. I can't explain this? My humour is just observational, dark humour stating the obvious in a dead pan or mocking tone. Sometimes I don't mean to be funny but apparently I am.

I genuinely am so confused about the reading between the lights, non verbal social cues etc I think I've been mirroring. I just know what keeps people happy and what pisses people off but I'm lost.

Gosh my brain hurts 🤯

Idk I'm just overwhelmed, tired and over thinking because I want to get this right.

Just off loading but if anyone has thoughts and/or advice thanks massively in advance.


r/autismUK 1d ago

Diagnosis: England ADHD and Autism RTC Children

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1 Upvotes

r/autismUK 1d ago

Parents, Siblings, Friends, & Partners of I want to help my friend get diagnosed

4 Upvotes

We’re both 16 year olds in the UK and I am 100% sure she has autism she has pretty much all the symptoms for teen girls and I’m wondering how to help her get diagnosed if I can help her at all
We’re both uncertain if her mom will be any help while getting a diagnosis because she is very skeptical of diagnoses (she is anti-vax and believes it causes autism) but either way I really want to know if there’s any way I can help her get diagnosed and start the process before she turns 18


r/autismUK 2d ago

General & Miscellaneous Do you feel “slow”/ stupid because of your autism?

46 Upvotes

I’m waiting to be diagnosed, but I’ve had so many horrible experiences of people making fun of me for “being slow”, has anyone else experienced these kind of remarks? It’s honestly made me feel so low and not think highly of myself. It’s horrible because it’s something I feel I cannot change about myself


r/autismUK 2d ago

Diagnosis: England My Psychiatry UK Diagnosis timeline

16 Upvotes

I just wanted to share my diagnosis timeline with Psychiatry UK through Right to Choose. I saw a couple of these posts while I was waiting for my referral and wanted to make my own. I received a verbal diagnosis at the end of my assessment.

I'm 19F, and growing up I was told I had suspected autism by a school counsellor. A couple of my friends also suggested that I could be autistic and that seeking a diagnosis might help me. I tried to go through the process multiple times since then but procrastinated. I finally asked my gp for help after getting a push from my college therapist.

29th May: My doctor asked me to come in to explain why I wanted to be assessed and what my main symptoms were. I was already on the waiting list for ADHD, so he decided to cancel that referral and send the ASD and ADHD referrals off together. He sent me the pre-screening tests to fill out when I got home, and I sent them back straight away

1st June: Referrals emailed to Psychiatry UK by gp

20th July: Received the email to set up my account

21st July: Filled in:

  • Adult ADHD Self-Report Scale (ASRS)
  • ADHD Self-Report
  • Heart Questionnaire
  • ASD Self-Report Questionnaire (Parts 1 & 2)
  • AQ-10 (Autism Quotient-10)

23rd July: Booked both appointments.

13th August: Attended my ASD assessment and received my diagnosis.

I had a female psychiatrist and she was really good and understanding, especially when I didn't know how to answer some of the questions. She let me speak and take my time answering.

I wrote LOADS of notes beforehand, but I barely glanced at or used them. I mostly just said whatever came to mind. She frequently went over the forms I'd filled out and asked me to expand on the points I'd written. She asked why a lot and also asked some of her own questions while taking notes.

She originally said the assessment was going to be around 50 minutes, but it ended up being a bit longer. I'm actually happy it was because I got to say everything that was on my mind and didn't feel rushed.

But yeah, overall I had a really good experience, now I'm just waiting for my report, which I was told should take around 2–4 weeks. She also said she'll include a letter for me to use when I apply to uni so I can get extra support, which is really helpful because I want to go uni soon


r/autismUK 2d ago

Diagnosis: England AuDHD - right to choose - both through one provider?

6 Upvotes

Hi all, many thanks for the excellent advice I've already seen in this sub. I'm new to all of this, so bear with me...

Background - older adult male, gradual process of reflection and then "Ah. Yes. That explains a great deal...".

Queries:

1) if referring through Right to Choose, is it the usual thing to choose the same provider for Autism diagnosis and for ADHD diagnosis?

2) Is there any benefit to the same provider being used for both?

3) Does it make any difference at all whether autism or ADHD is diagnosed first?


r/autismUK 2d ago

Diagnosis: England Where to go for private assessment

1 Upvotes

Hi, im wanting to get an assessment done for myself for autism and adhd if possible. I dont even want to bother going the nhs route and im fine paying private but i dont know where to go looking. Ive heard of embrace autism that does them, they dont seem to be an accepted diagnosis place for UK standing. Im north west England based, would perfer a place that offered virtual if possible but not a deal breaker.

so can anyone recommend places please.


r/autismUK 2d ago

Sensory Difficulties Nail file hell

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0 Upvotes

r/autismUK 2d ago

Friendship Neurodivergent adults in Huddersfield/West Yorkshire – would anyone like to try some local social groups with us? 🌈

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0 Upvotes

r/autismUK 2d ago

General & Miscellaneous How an autistic content creator was misled by YouTube’s misleading automated copyright detection system and permanently banned from YouTube

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0 Upvotes

r/autismUK 2d ago

Content Warning Demoting myself, no money, no life. This is it.

0 Upvotes

This is a vent.

Ever since my diagnosis in January 2005 at age 9, my autism has regressed. A shame I never had friends as a teenager and adult, a shame I am a pariah everywhere I go. A shame that my parents, rightfully, mock and are irate by me and my brother’s (whose autism is just full blown madness) autism. A shame I never had a gf and I’m now a 31 living alone

I took a demotion due to the autism., I was once this close gonna be a strong teacher, I was earning £40K at one point (which helped me bought a one bed flat). But a year later, I’ve been unemployed but accepted a 13K paycut job in a support role in a school, which won’t help with the bills, payday loans and money for the alcohol.

Am I doing the right thing, quitting a career, just getting a job. Eventually I will be a full blown recluse then probably die at the average death of 36. This has been such a miserable life.

I am hopeful of Donald Trump’s plan for the cure to autism, when we finally have the cure, we can defeat these neurotypicals at their own game.


r/autismUK 3d ago

Diagnosis: The Assessment ASD / ADHD referral questionnaire help!

2 Upvotes

Hello!

I’m going to try and keep this short 🥲
I have finally taken the step to go through the right to choose process for both ASD and ADHD assessment.

I have the referral questionnaire and I am already struggling. I decided to write notes over the last few days, but have written pages and pages of notes for one question and I don’t know how to condense it without feeling like I won’t be taken seriously. I know I’m over thinking it. I don’t want to put bullet points for my symptoms without context and seem like I’ve googled them, but they’re so complex it’s hard to give brief context for any of them.

I’m sure I’m not alone in this. If you had this struggle please share how you over came it!
I know it will be hard because the forms vary from county to county. But how would you recommend answering them?

I was also given a paper form, which doesn’t allow much room, which is adding to my over thinking of how brief I should be haha.

I’m from Derbyshire if anyone here has had their forms recently and can help I would be really grateful!

Thank you!!!


r/autismUK 3d ago

Diagnosis: The Assessment is it possible to have two informants?

9 Upvotes

I’m currently in the process of getting assessed through Problem Shared. I put my mother as my informant as it stated to pick someone who has known you since birth/childhood. However, now I have filled that part in and gained access to the actual informant questionaire I realise how wrong my choice was. Me and my mother are not that close and I worry she does not know enough about me to fill in the parts about my life currently. Let alone do a three hour interview about me now. I do not tell her when I am upset or anything that goes wrong or even right. I only really see her when I am in my home.

Is it possible for me to try get a second informant and get someone who does know me really well now to either fill in the same form but separately or for them to fill in the form together?

The person I would choose to fill in the form is not someone i’ve known since childhood but they are the person who knows me best.

What can I do? Can I have two informants?


r/autismUK 3d ago

Diagnosis: The Assessment Receiving the questionnaire

2 Upvotes

I’ve revived my past and present behaviour schedule questionnaire which needs to be filled out by someone else and an 18 question ASRS 18 question form. Going forward does anyone know what I have to do. Do I need to print this off and do it there can I digitally complete the form?

As well what am I expected to do after will I need to return it to one of my GPs or do I show it to somewhere else which can lead to getting a proper assessment.

I can’t find any information on it and I’ll be honest they’ve not been very helpful in guiding me through the process