Short report: Autistic adults’ perceptions of gender, autism, and policing in the United States

Meredith Cola, Aili Hauptmann, Alison Russell, Dieu M Truong, Ashlee Yates Flanagan, Kimberly G Tena, Juan Pacheco, Ashley Zitter, Azia Knox, Maggie Rose Pelella, Lizzy Fulop, Maxine Covello, Amanda Lee, Margaret Lyons, Sarah Schillinger, Rita Solórzano, Sinan Turnacioglu, Vijay Ravindran, Judith S Miller, Joseph P McCleery, Julia Parish-Morris

Autism: The International Journal of Research and Practice

Published online on December 17, 2025

Abstract

Autism, Volume 30, Issue 5, Page 1368-1377, May 2026.
Autistic individuals face increased risk during police interactions in the United States, including injury and death. Research shows police behave inequitably during interactions with marginalized communities and may behave even more inequitably toward ...