Weir (2022) conducted an online survey, coupled with interviews with autistic adults, to understand the healthcare disparities that autistic people face. The results of this study showed that autistic adults have an increased risk of chronic conditions, and experience worsened quality of health and healthcare experiences. In addition, autistic adults had a higher risk of psychiatric conditions. Autistic adults were 4.2-7.4 times more likely than non-autistic adults to report that a healthcare situation caused a meltdown or shutdown. Autistic adults were also less likely to be able to communicate effectively with their providers, and are more likely to report sensory overload related to the healthcare environment.

These results show that there needs to be interventions made in the healthcare environment in order to improve the quality and accessibility of healthcare services for autistic adults. The authors suggest increasing the length of appointment times for autistic patients in order to facilitate better communication between providers and patients. More research is needed to understand what other interventions can be put in place in the healthcare environment.