We are creating a way to measure attitudes and understanding of autism over time. The Autistica Attitudes Index will help us to understand where research, policy and campaigns should focus their attention. And this will help to create a more inclusive world.

Why this project matters

We know that negative attitudes and a lack of understanding from non-autistic people affect most autistic people from a young age. Many are bullied at school and go on to be excluded from the workplace or end up in jobs below their skill level. Many autistic people face stigma and negative behaviour when accessing healthcare and support, or just going about their daily lives.

We need to build a more understanding and accepting world. To help make change, we need to be able to measure non-autistic people's attitudes towards autism, and how these change over time.

We will ask members of the general public to complete an online survey, which we co-developed with neurodivergent people and the general public. This will measure their understanding of autism and their attitudes towards autistic people. We will turn the results into a report. We will run this survey every two or three years to measure how attitudes change over time.

By measuring and understanding attitudes, we can help to inform the Government, healthcare and education about where to focus their attention. We can get other charities and the media to raise awareness of the misconceptions and stereotypes about autism. By working in partnership and acting on evidence, we can help create a more inclusive world.

References

[1] Autistica. (2022). YouGov poll commissioned by Autistica.