RESUMO
Background: Sensory processing differences are commonly experienced by autistic individuals, and some sensory experiences can greatly impact the mental health and quality of life of individuals. Previous research suggests that adapting the sensory nature of environments may improve individual experiences and engagement with these spaces. However, knowledge about which public places are particularly disabling is limited, especially from the perspective of autistic individuals. Little is also known about what in the sensory environment makes them particularly disabling. Methods: In this participatory research study, we investigated the sensory experiences of autistic adults in public spaces. We used an online focus group method, recruiting 24 autistic adults across 7 focus groups. We applied content analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, and case study analysis. Results: The results of the content analysis showed that supermarkets, eateries (i.e., restaurants, cafés, pubs), highstreets and city/town centers, public transport, health care settings (i.e., doctor's surgeries and hospitals), and retail shops and shopping centers are experienced to be commonly disabling sensory environments for autistic adults. However, outdoor spaces, retail shops, museums, concert venues/clubs, cinemas/theaters, and stadiums are identified to be commonly less disabling sensory environments. In addition, through reflexive thematic analysis we identified 6 key principles that underlie how disabling or enabling sensory environments are: Sensoryscape (sensory environment), Space, Predictability, Understanding, Adjustments, and Recovery. We represented these principles as a web to emphasize the interconnected, dimensional spectrum of the different themes. Lastly, we used case study analysis to evidence these principles in the commonly disabling sensory environments for richer detail and context and to provide credibility for the principles. Conclusions: Our findings have important implications for businesses, policy, and built environment designers to reduce the sensory impact of public places to make them more enabling for autistic people. By making public spaces more enabling, we may be able to improve quality of life for autistic individuals.
Why was this study done?: Autistic people often experience differences in sensory processing, such as finding bright lights and sounds overwhelming and painful. This has been linked to poorer quality of life and mental health. Not much is known about how public places could be changed to be less disabling for autistic adults. What was the purpose of this study?: We aimed to find out which public places are disabling for autistic adults due to the sensory environment, and what about these places makes them especially challenging. What did the researchers do?: We invited autistic adults to take part in online focus groups to tell us about their sensory experiences in public places. In total, 24 people took part across 7 focus groups. We analysed the data 3 ways: 1) we conducted content analysis, identifying categories of words or phrases that share meaning to find commonly disabling and enabling places; 2) we conducted reflexive thematic analysis, developing themes and sub-themes from trends in the data to understand how sensory environments can be experienced as disabling or enabling; and 3) we conducted case study analysis, to see if the themes and sub-themes were present in the commonly disabling environments. What were the results of the study?: We found that supermarkets, eateries (i.e., restaurants, cafés, pubs), highstreets and city/town centres, public transport, healthcare settings (i.e., doctor's surgeries and hospitals), and retail shops and shopping centres, were most often mentioned as being disabling sensory environments. But, outdoor spaces, retail shops, museums, concert venues/clubs, cinemas/theatres, and stadiums were most often talked about as being less disabling sensory environments. We also identified principles that can make these environments either disabling or enabling. These included Sensoryscape or the `sensory landscape' (sensory burden, sustained and inescapable input, uncontrollable environment), Space (busy and crowded, confined the built environment is), Predictably (lack of information, inconsistent and unfamiliar, and uncertainty), Understanding (unsupportive people, misunderstanding and judgement), Adjustments (suitable adjustments, pace pressures, inflexible communication), and Recovery (space to escape, unable to recover and prepare). Last, we showed in more detail what these principles look like in the different disabling public places. What do these findings add to what was already known?: Our findings add to our understanding about how autistic adults experience public places; particularly, that there are a range of external factors linked with sensory processing differences which can make public places disabling. What are potential weaknesses in the study?: Our study could have recruited a more diverse range of autistic individuals, such as those with cooccurring intellectual disability. It is important to understand experiences from a diverse range of autistic people to ensure that outcomes from research can improve the lives of all autistic people. How will these findings help autistic adults now or in the future?: Our findings provide insights into how public places could be improved so that they can become more enabling environments for autistic people. This is important for businesses, policy, and the design of spaces to make public places more accessible, improving mental wellbeing and quality of life for autistic individuals.