About autism

Autistic people experience and interact with the world differently.

Autism is understood to have a strong genetic component, and is lifelong.

It is estimated that between 1%-2% of the population is autistic.

Autism can be diagnosed at any age and people of any gender can be autistic.

Although some aspects of autism are experienced by many autistic people, every autistic person is different.

The following resources provide useful descriptions of autism, from a range of perspectives:

• https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/autism/what-is-autism/

• https://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/information-about-autism/understanding-autism/what- is-autism

• https://www.autismcentral.org.uk/guidance/understanding-autism

• https://autismunderstood.co.uk/

The ‘double empathy problem’ is an important concepts in understanding autism, and is explained in these research papers:

• https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09687599.2012.710008

• https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613221129123#body -ref-bibr14- 13623613221129123