Research

This page contains links to scientific research papers from the Autism from Menstruation to Menopause study team. Most papers can be read for free from the links below, but email us if you are struggling to find a copy.

We do not have many published papers from the Autism from Menstruation to Menopause study, but more will be added here in due course.

Autism from Menstruation to Menopause study protocol paper (how we’re going to do the study):

  • Grant, A. et al. (2024). Participatory longitudinal qualitative interview study to understand Autistic gynaecological and obstetric health: the Autism from menstruation to menopause study protocol. BMJ Open. DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-088343

How we’re working with the Autistic community council to do the Autism from Menstruation to Menopause study:

  • Grant, A. et al., (2024). Co-developing an Autism research funding application to facilitate ethical and participatory research: the Autism from menstruation to menopause project. In Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, H. and Jackson-Perry, D. (eds). Autism Studies: research, ethics and methods. Palgrave. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-66127-3_4

  • Williams, G. (…) Grant, A. (2024). ‘Building our own house’ as an insider-only Community Partnered Participatory Research Council: co-creating a safe space for Autistic knowledge production. Autism. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613241253014

    Why it’s important to study Autistic reproductive health:

  • Williams, G. L., Ellis, R., Axbey, H., Grant, A., (available May 2025) Autistic, hysteric: Inequity in the United Kingdom’s healthcare for Autistic people with wombs. In Milton, D. (ed.) The Double Empathy Problem Reader, Pavilion Publishing.

Systematic Reviews: Autistic people’s reproductive experiences:

  • Ellis, R., et al. (COMING SOON 2025) Menstruation and Autism: A Qualitative Systematic Review. Autism in Adulthood.

Autistic people’s maternity experiences

  • Grant, A. et al. (2025). “I just gritted my teeth to get through it all”: An online survey of Autistic people’s experiences of maternity care in the UK. Autism in Adulthood. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/aut.2024.0275

  • Grant, A. et al. (2024). “I felt belittled and ridiculed for being in pain”: an online survey of Autistic people’s experience of care for pregnancy loss in the UK. Midwifery. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.midw.2024.104266

  • Grant, A. et al., (2023). “It felt like I had an old fashioned telephone ringing in my breasts”: an online survey of UK Autistic birthing parents’ experiences of infant feeding. Maternal and Child Nutrition.  https://doi.org/10.1111/mcn.13581

  • Grant, A. et al. (2022) Autistic women’s views and experiences of infant feeding: A systematic review of qualitative evidence.  Autism. DOI: 10.1177/13623613221089374

Autistic people and healthcare

Autistic people and government policy

  • Grant, A, Williams, G, Williams, K and Woods, R. (2023). Unmet need, epistemic injustice and early death: how social policy for Autistic adults in England and Wales fails to slay Beveridge’s five giants.  Social Policy Review 35