<i>'It's not that they don't want to access the support . . . it's the impact of the autism'</i>: The experience of eating disorder services from the perspective of autistic women, parents and healthcare professionals



Babb, Charli, Brede, Janina, Jones, Catherine RG, Elliott, Mair, Zanker, Cathy, Tchanturia, Kate, Serpell, Lucy, Mandy, Will and Fox, John RE ORCID: 0000-0003-3039-8024
(2021) <i>'It's not that they don't want to access the support . . . it's the impact of the autism'</i>: The experience of eating disorder services from the perspective of autistic women, parents and healthcare professionals. AUTISM, 25 (5). pp. 1409-1421.

Access the full-text of this item by clicking on the Open Access link.
[img] PDF
iIts not that they dont want to access the support . . . its the impact of the autismi The experience of eating disorder ser.pdf - Published version

Download (545kB) | Preview

Abstract

<h4>Lay abstract</h4>This study explores autistic women's experiences of eating disorder services. About 20%-30% of people with anorexia nervosa are also autistic, and current treatments seem not to work as well for them. We interviewed 15 autistic women with experience of anorexia nervosa, 12 parents of autistic women with anorexia nervosa, and 11 healthcare professionals working in eating disorder services. We asked autistic women and parents about their experiences of eating disorder services, and we asked healthcare professionals about their experiences treating autistic women with anorexia nervosa. Participants' views were represented by three overall themes: misunderstanding autism and autistic traits, one treatment does not fit all, and improving accessibility and engagement within services. We found that autistic women face many barriers when in treatment for anorexia nervosa, often because of a lack of autism understanding within eating disorder services. Future research should look at developing anorexia nervosa treatments that can specifically help autistic individuals.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: anorexia nervosa, autism, co-occurrence, eating disorder services, females, qualitative research
Divisions: Faculty of Health and Life Sciences
Faculty of Health and Life Sciences > Institute of Population Health
Depositing User: Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited: 31 Jan 2023 16:16
Last Modified: 08 Oct 2023 15:13
DOI: 10.1177/1362361321991257
Open Access URL: https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361321991257
Related URLs:
URI: https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3168031