Experiencing COVID-19 on the spectrum: perceptions of healthcare access among autistic adults during a global pandemic and implications for social workers

ABSTRACT

The novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) required substantial changes in socialization to mitigate the spread of the virus. Stay-at-home and social distancing mandates required changes in work, school, and healthcare access for autistic adults. This qualitative online netnographic study utilized a public online forum to examine 1,102 posts detailing the experiences of COVID-19 by autistic adults from March 2020 to December 2020. We found two main themes related to seeking behavioral health services and seeking support related to service delays and barriers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Implications for social work practice and supporting autistic people in navigating healthcare access are discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Autism
• COVID-19
• healthcare access
• online communities
• peer support

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Author Contribution

J.A.C. and J.L.H. conceptualized the study and led the research and writing processes. All authors (J.A.C. A.F.L. and J.L.H.) contributed to the final article and approved it before submission. This article has been submitted only to this journal and is not published elsewhere.

Additional information

Funding

The authors did not receive any funding for this study.