Autistic children and young people in the UK are twice as likely to die by suicide as their non-autistic peers, yet nearly all suicide prevention research has focused on adults. This matters because the standard models used to understand and predict suicide were developed for non-autistic people and do not accurately capture what drives suicidal thoughts and behaviours in autistic young people. Without a theory grounded in their actual experiences, clinicians lack a reliable evidence base to identify who is most at risk or to design support that actually works. This fellowship will begin by listening to autistic young people who have recovered from suicidal thoughts, using a co-design approach to build a new, clinically grounded theory of suicide specific to this group. If successful, it will transform how practitioners assess risk, formulate support, and design prevention interventions—making them meaningful and effective for autistic people for the first time. The work also establishes international networks and prepares for future large-scale studies using cutting-edge statistical and qualitative methods.
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Autistic people (diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder according to diagnostic criteria) number at least 80 million worldwide. In the last decade research has clearly reported that autistic people are more likely to think about, attempt and die by suicide than people who are not autistic. In 2023, the UK Government identified autistic people as a priority group for suicide prevention for the first time. Population data in the UK reports that autistic children and young people are twice as likely to die by suicide than their non-autistic peers, however, most research to date has been undertaken with autistic adults. One limiting factor in designing interventions is that the way that we think about, conceptualise and understand suicide in non-autistic people is not necessarily meaningful for autistic people. Suicide models designed in non-autistic people are less accurate to describe the experiences of autistic people. Important factors driving suicide in autistic young people remain unidentified, which means we have a weak evidence base to design interventions and support. This programme of work will start with the lived experience of autistic young people in recovery from suicidal thoughts and feelings. Using a co-design approach will build high level research skills, practitioner and international networks and prepare for research that can create a theory of suicide in autistic children and young people that is grounded in clinical practice. Such a theory can ensure that, for the first time, the way that we identify those most at risk, formulate support and design suicide prevention interventions can be meaningful and effective for autistic people. Outputs of this fellowship prepare the ground for high impact research applying cutting edge statistical and qualitative methods. These include publications in the highest ranked journals, such as Nature Mental Health, a multi-disciplinary Special Interest Group at the International Association for Suicide Prevention and a prestigious symposium presentation at European Symposium on Suicide and Suicidal Behaviour on novel approaches to suicide prevention in autistic children and young people. In summary, this programme lays the groundwork for future translational research that can make a real difference to autistic children and young people who experience these difficulties and those who support them.
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