Psychology researchers hope to improve the social success of autistic adolescents and adults by promoting understanding and acceptance of autism among non-autistic people instead of focusing on teaching them ways to think and behave more like their non-autistic peers.

The researchers published their findings online Jan. 20 in the journal Autism. The study showed that familiarizing non-autistic people with the challenges and strengths of autistic people helped to reduce stigma and misconceptions about autism, but implicit biases about autism were harder to overcome.

Desiree Jones, a psychology doctoral student in the School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences (BBS), is the corresponding author of the paper, and Dr. Noah Sasson, associate professor of psychology, is the senior author.

Autism is characterized by differences in thinking, sensing, and communicating that can make interaction and connection with non-autistic people difficult. Some autistic people are nonspeaking and need a lot of support in their everyday lives, while some are highly verbal and need less support. Jones’ work focuses specifically on the experiences of autistic adults without intellectual disability.

«Previous work in our lab has shown that autistic people are often stereotyped as awkward and less likeable,» Jones said. «Some might think that autistic people don’t want friends or don’t want to interact with people. We want to combat those ideas.»

Promoting autism knowledge among non-autistic adults represents a shift in philosophy about how to improve the social experiences of autistic people. Jones explained that this tactic borrows from research on race and ethnicity.

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Materials provided by University of Texas at Dallas. Original written by Stephen Fontenot. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.