Adapting Drug and Alcohol Therapies for Autistic Adults

Autistic people may be at a higher risk of drug and alcohol misuse than the general population. Autistic people, however, are under-represented within drug and alcohol support services. This is the first survey of drug and alcohol therapists' perceptions of current service provision for autistic clients and recommendations for reasonable adjustments that therapists can make to enhance successful outcomes.

We conducted an online survey of 122 drug and alcohol therapists, exploring therapists' demographics, training and experience with autistic clients, approaches and adaptations used with autistic clients, and therapists' confidence with autistic clients. Within two focus groups, 11 members of the autistic and broader autism (e.g., family members, professionals) communities reflected on the reasonable adjustments reported by therapists.

Most therapists had autistic clients and most therapists had received no autism-specific training. Alcohol misuse was the most common presenting issue, and most therapists reported that treatment outcomes were less favorable for autistic clients than for other groups. Therapists perceived that barriers to successful outcomes were (1) a lack of autism-specific training, (2) a need to adapt therapy for autistic clients, and (3) a lack of shared perspective between the therapist and the autistic client. Previous research has identified a range of reasonable adaptations and, when asked, therapists were moderately confident in their ability to deliver these. Members of the autistic and broader autism communities coproduced guidance detailing how therapists can best adapt their practice for autistic clients including how to structure sessions and the language to use within sessions.

This study highlights a need for practical and theoretical training for drug and alcohol therapists to support successful adaptation to current service provision for autistic clients and to develop a shared perspective on the desired aims and outcomes of the therapeutic process.