"After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity
Guidelines for professionals practising in healthcare settings recommend that autistic people seeking care should receive neurodiversity-affirming support. However, education on neurodiversity is not widely included in health professional training in Australia. With a focus on health equity for auti...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Published: |
2025
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97828 |
| _version_ | 1848766326670098432 |
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| author | Bernard, Sarah Teasdale, N. Harris, Courtenay Girdler, Sonya |
| author_facet | Bernard, Sarah Teasdale, N. Harris, Courtenay Girdler, Sonya |
| author_sort | Bernard, Sarah |
| building | Curtin Institutional Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Guidelines for professionals practising in healthcare settings recommend that autistic people seeking care should receive neurodiversity-affirming support. However, education on neurodiversity is not widely included in health professional training in Australia. With a focus on health equity for autistic, neurodivergent people, we conducted a healthcare improvement initiative addressing the need for neurodiversity education in an Australian tertiary hospital through a change process. This project was conducted from May to November 2022, led by neurodivergent, disabled doctors who developed neurodiversity education for two hospital departments, refined through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles and feedback surveys. The feedback survey, which included an opportunity to provide comments, was completed by 29 of 44 attendees, a response rate of 66%. Respondents agreed the education was relevant to their work (97%, n = 28), and reported more confidence (83%, n = 24) and acceptance (90%, n = 26) of autistic patients and colleagues. Themes identified in the analysis of the open-ended questions included reducing negative attitudes (biases), recognizing unmet neurodiversity learning needs, and a shift in perspective. Neurodivergent doctors led this healthcare improvement project to educate hospital clinicians about neurodiversity. The theme of reducing bias emerged from the open-ended responses, highlighting the importance of this work, given bias contributes significantly to health inequity. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:49:22Z |
| format | Journal Article |
| id | curtin-20.500.11937-97828 |
| institution | Curtin University Malaysia |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T11:49:22Z |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | curtin-20.500.11937-978282025-07-22T06:53:42Z "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity Bernard, Sarah Teasdale, N. Harris, Courtenay Girdler, Sonya Guidelines for professionals practising in healthcare settings recommend that autistic people seeking care should receive neurodiversity-affirming support. However, education on neurodiversity is not widely included in health professional training in Australia. With a focus on health equity for autistic, neurodivergent people, we conducted a healthcare improvement initiative addressing the need for neurodiversity education in an Australian tertiary hospital through a change process. This project was conducted from May to November 2022, led by neurodivergent, disabled doctors who developed neurodiversity education for two hospital departments, refined through Plan-Do-Study-Act cycles and feedback surveys. The feedback survey, which included an opportunity to provide comments, was completed by 29 of 44 attendees, a response rate of 66%. Respondents agreed the education was relevant to their work (97%, n = 28), and reported more confidence (83%, n = 24) and acceptance (90%, n = 26) of autistic patients and colleagues. Themes identified in the analysis of the open-ended questions included reducing negative attitudes (biases), recognizing unmet neurodiversity learning needs, and a shift in perspective. Neurodivergent doctors led this healthcare improvement project to educate hospital clinicians about neurodiversity. The theme of reducing bias emerged from the open-ended responses, highlighting the importance of this work, given bias contributes significantly to health inequity. 2025 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97828 10.1177/27546330251317807 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ fulltext |
| spellingShingle | Bernard, Sarah Teasdale, N. Harris, Courtenay Girdler, Sonya "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title | "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title_full | "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title_fullStr | "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title_full_unstemmed | "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title_short | "After this presentation I feel more confident caring for autistic patients": The impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| title_sort | "after this presentation i feel more confident caring for autistic patients": the impact of neurodivergent doctors educating hospital staff about neurodiversity |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/97828 |