“I Never Realised Everybody Felt As Happy As I Do when I Am Around Autistic People”: a Thematic Analysis of Autistic Adults’ Relationships with Autistic and Neurotypical Friends and Family.

Please note, this paper has been peer-reviewed and published. You can find the published version at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1362361320908976 and it can be cited asCrompton, C. J., Hallett, S., Ropar, D., Flynn, E., & Fletcher-Watson, S. (2020). ‘I never realised everybody felt as happy as I do when I am around autistic people’: A thematic analysis of autistic adults’ relationships with autistic and neurotypical friends and family. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362361320908976 Please do not cite this preprint. Many autistic people are motivated to have friends and relationships, and close family bonds, despite the fact that autism is clinically characterised as a condition negatively affecting social interaction. Many first-hand accounts of autistic people describe feelings of comfort and ease specifically with other autistic people. This qualitative research explored and contrasted autistic experiences of spending social time with neurotypical and autistic friends and family. 12 autistic adults (10F, aged 21-51) completed semi-structured interviews focused on time spent with friends and family; positive and negative aspects of time spent with neurotypical and autistic friends and family; and feelings during and after spending time together. Three themes were identified: cross-neurotype understanding, minority status, and belonging. Investigation of these themes reveals the benefits of autistic people creating and maintaining social relationships with other autistic people more systematically than previous individual reports. They highlight the need for autistic-led social opportunities and indicate benefits of informal peer support for autistic adults.