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Cited by 97Autism Spectrum Disorder ResearchDisability Rights and RepresentationUrban Transport and Accessibility

“It Is a Big Spider Web of Things”: Sensory Experiences of Autistic Adults in Public Spaces

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MacLennan, Keren, Woolley, Catherine, andsensory, Emily, Heasman, Brett, Starns, Jess, George, Becky, Manning, Catherine·2023·Autism in Adulthood
DOI 10.1089/aut.2022.0024PMC PMC10726197

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Abstract

Background: Sensory processing differences are commonly experienced by autistic individuals, and some sensory experiences can greatly impact the mental health and quality of life of individuals. Previous research suggests that adapting the sensory nature of environments may improve individual experiences and engagement with these spaces. However, knowledge about which public places are particularly disabling is limited, especially from the perspective of autistic individuals. Little is also known about what in the sensory environment makes them particularly disabling. Methods: In this participatory research study, we investigated the sensory experiences of autistic adults in public spaces. We used an online focus group method, recruiting 24 autistic adults across 7 focus groups. We applied content analysis, reflexive thematic analysis, and case study analysis. Results: The results of the content analysis showed that supermarkets, eateries (i.e., restaurants, cafés, pubs), highstreets and city/town centers, public transport, health care settings (i.e., doctor's surgeries and hospitals), and retail shops and shopping centers are experienced to be commonly disabling sensory environments for autistic adults. However, outdoor spaces, retail shops, museums, concert venues/clubs, cinemas/theaters, and stadiums are identified to be commonly less disabling sensory environments. In addition, through reflexive thematic analysis we identified 6 key principles that underlie how disabling or enabling sensory environments are: Sensoryscape (sensory environment), Space, Predictability, Understanding, Adjustments, and Recovery. We represented these principles as a web to emphasize the interconnected, dimensional spectrum of the different themes. Lastly, we used case study analysis to evidence these principles in the commonly disabling sensory environments for richer detail and context and to provide credibility for the principles. Conclusions: Our findings have important implications for businesses, policy, and built environment designers to reduce the sensory impact of public places to make them more enabling for autistic people. By making public spaces more enabling, we may be able to improve quality of life for autistic individuals.

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  • Sensory sensitivities are common to almost all autistic people, but the pattern of sensitivities varies.

    “Sensory sensitivities are common to almost all autistic people (MacLennan et al, 2022), but the pattern of sensitivities varies (Lyons-Warren and Wan, 2021).”

    From Autistic SPACE: a novel framework for meeting the needs of autistic people in healthcare settings (2023) · cites this paper as MacLennan et al, 2022

    The Introduction says sensory processing differences are commonly experienced by autistic people across the lifespan. It does not establish the stronger claim that almost all autistic people have sensory sensitivities. The separate claim about varying patterns is attributed to a different citation and is not judged here. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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1 of the 55 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Research works printed but not linked: 2

  1. Lane SJ. Sensory modulation. In: Bundy AC, Lane SJ, Murray EA, eds. Sensory Integration: Theory and Practice. 2nd ed. F. A. Davis.; 2002:101-122.
  2. Mostafa M. An architecture for autism: Concepts of design intervention for the autistic user. International Journal of Architectural Research. 2008;2(1):189-211.

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Authors
MacLennan, K., Woolley, C., andsensory, E., Heasman, B., Starns, J., George, B., & Manning, C.
Affiliations
  • University of Oxford (GB)
  • York St John University (GB)
Corresponding author
MacLennan, Keren
ORCID
Venue
Autism in Adulthood
Publisher
SAGE Publications
Published
2023-12-01
Volume
5
Issue
4
Pages
411-422
ISSN
  • 2573-9581 (ISSN-L)
  • 2573-959X
DOI
10.1089/aut.2022.0024
PMC
PMC10726197
OpenAlex
W4297473207
Cited by
96
References
55
Citations by year
2026: 24 · 2025: 48 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 5
FWCI
9.28
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Autism in Adulthood (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • CentAUR (University of Reading) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Pure (University of Bath) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
  • Research at York St John (York St John University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • Durham Research Online (Durham University) (submittedVersion)
  • University of Birmingham Research Portal (University of Birmingham) (submittedVersion)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
  • PsyArXiv (OSF Preprints) (submittedVersion)
Funders
Wellcome Trust (204685, 204685/Z/16/Z)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Autism Spectrum Disorder Research
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Disability Rights and Representation
  • Social Sciences › Transportation › Urban Transport and Accessibility
Keywords
autism spectrum disorder, sensory processing differences, autistic adults, public space, sensory environment, sensory overload, built environment design, predictability, public transport, supermarkets, healthcare settings, quality of life, participatory research

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