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Purpose A key development in early adolescence is the active construction of individual identity; for autistic young people, integrating the idea of “being autistic” forms part of this process. The purpose of this paper is to explore identity development from a contextualist perspective, foregrounding young people’s experiences within mainstream educational settings. Design/methodology/approach A longitudinal, qualitative methodology was used: semi-structured interviews were conducted annually with 14 autistic young people, their parents and teachers between school years 6 and 9. Findings Young people felt different from their neurotypical peers and their acceptance of their diagnosis changed over time as they managed their developing personal and public identities. In pursuit of being treated “normally,” many camouflaged their differences at school, which sometimes involved opting out of school-based support. Adults described their own understandings of autism and discussed the responses of others in the school environment to autistic differences. Originality/value The influence of sociocultural discourses of autism on young people’s identity development is discussed and implications for both school based and post-diagnostic support for young people and their families explored.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether acute inpatient psychiatric staffs' attitudes and self-efficacy towards adults with mild intellectual disability, were different than towards the general mental health population. And whether their understanding of the policy for those with mental illness and intellectual disability differed. Design/methodology/approach -The study is a between-subject design, using a self-administered postal questionnaire. The sample was all qualified staff from the acute inpatient psychiatric provision of an inner London borough. Potential participants were randomly assigned to two research groups, half being given a questionnaire regarding people with intellectual disability and the other half an identical one regarding people with mental illness. Comparisons were made between the two. Findings -The majority of staff were unaware of the current policy direction for adults with intellectual disability although were on the whole in agreement to the idea that they should access mainstream services. Staff overall did not have more negative attitudes to those with intellectual disability although were less likely to empower or encourage self-advocacy. Staff were significantly less confident that they had sufficient training and experience, and in their perceived ability to be able to communicate, assess and treat adults with mild intellectual disability when compared to those with mental illness. Research limitations/implications -The response rate and small sample size is a limitation. Further research could usefully look at whether self-efficacy and attitudes differ in different models of mainstream psychiatric care. Originality/value -Government policy in the UK regarding services for people with intellectual disability advocates for inclusion and equality (Chaplin and Taggart, 2012). Those requiring psychiatric care should access this from mainstream services (.) There are, however, no UK-based studies investigating the views of mainstream acute inpatient psychiatric staff towards their role. Intellectual disability staff have concerns about their attitudes and self-efficacy and it is know that acute care is the setting where most adults with intellectual disability will come across mainstream psychiatric staff. Findings have relevance to managers and staff in both intellectual disability and psychiatric services and could be considered in the context of trying to work together as is the direction of policy.

Background and Aims Survey research indicates that autistic children and young people experienced high levels of anxiety and isolation during lockdowns in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Meanwhile, qualitative studies suggest that there may have been some benefits in the switch to home learning for this population. However, the majority of evidence to date comes from parent reports; the current study aimed to triangulate the perspectives of autistic youth and their parents in order to more fully understand the impact of periods of lockdown on education, relationships, and wellbeing. Methods Thirteen semistructured interviews were conducted (six with adolescents, seven with parents) to explore the experiences of a group of autistic youth aged 13–14 years (Year 9 of mainstream education in England) during a period of intermittent lockdown. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results Two broad themes capturing commonality and diversity in the adolescents’ experiences of lockdown were developed. (1) “Different stress, not less stress” encapsulates the finding that, despite the enforced removal from the school environment providing short-term relief, new stressors contributed to consistently high levels of anxiety for the young people throughout lockdown periods. Stressors included managing home-school within the family unit, navigating time without boundaries, and anxiety about the virus. (2) “A shrunken world” reflects the heightened impact of losing access to meaningful social relationships, extracurricular pursuits, and health-promoting activities for autistic youth. Discussion The early stages of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic caused serious disruption to education for many children and young people globally,;our findings provide further evidence that the impact was particularly salient for autistic youth in terms of social isolation, lost learning, and heightened anxiety. Implications: These findings underscore the necessity of long-term support for the education, social needs, and mental health of autistic young people in the aftermath of lockdowns in response to COVID-19.

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