How English Local Policy Represents and Prioritises Autistic Adults’ Intimate Lives: What We Found and Next Steps

Background: Recognising and integrating people’s whole lives in the planning and provision of social care is essential. However, intimate lives, an ordinary and important part of many people’s lives, tend to be overlooked. This research builds upon a previous analysis of national health and social care policy in England that found policymakers tend to overlook support for intimate lives in the social care of autistic people. Through a policy analysis of local autism strategies across England, this analysis explores the extent local policies prioritise or acknowledge support for autistic people’s intimate lives.

 

Method: This study took a new approach to critical policy analysis, exploring both presences and absences in policy documents. Using a combination of keyword searches, quantified content analysis, and a hybrid thematic analysis that drew on both deductive and inductive approaches, we examined how local authorities in England represent autistic people’s intimate lives.

 

We systematically identified local autism strategies from every English Local Authority responsible for adult social care. In doing so, we discovered there is no existing, comprehensive, or up-to-date list of local autism strategies. To address this gap, this research developed an up-to-date database of English autism strategies.

 

Results: This policy analysis revealed an absence of positive and proportionate representations of autistic people’s intimate lives within local policy. Compared to other areas of life frequently discussed in social care contexts, such as employment, intimacy and relationships received little attention. No local autism strategies included a dedicated priority area for supporting autistic people’s intimate lives, nor did they address sex or relationships within other relevant sections of policy documents. However, one local strategy stood out. It consistently recognised sex and relationships as an ordinary and important part of autistic people’s lives, offering a valuable example of how intimate lives can be meaningfully acknowledged and embedded within local autism policy.

This work also produced a continually updated database of local autism strategies across England, providing a unique resource for social care researchers, practitioners, and policymakers.

Conclusion: and Next Steps: This local policy analysis shows the lack of recognition and prioritisation of supporting autistic people’s intimate lives. Drawing on these findings, the study presents six recommendations for local authorities to better integrate support for intimate lives in future local autism strategies across England.

 

The database developed through this research serves as a valuable resource for autistic people, social care professionals, and practitioners seeking their most up-to-date local autism strategies. Moreover, it highlights the potential to expand this tool to include other localised strategy documents frequently accessed by service users and professionals alike. This presentation offers promising directions for further database development and subsequent policy analysis.