Do Autistic People’s Support Needs and Non‑Autistic People’s Support for the Neurodiversity Movement Contribute to Heightened Autism Stigma in South Korea vs. the US?

Authors

So Yoon Kim, Duksung Women’s University
Kristen Gillespie‑Lynch, CUNY College of Staten IslandFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-7-2022

Abstract

We examined stigma towards vignette characters representing diverse autistic characteristics (social, non-speaking, or repetitive interests or restricted behaviors; RIRB) among 259 South Korean and 240 American participants (age range=18~74).Within each domain, participants were randomized to read a vignette depicting low or high support needs. Koreans reported greater stigma towards autistic characteristics and less awareness of and support for the neurodiversity movement thanAmericans. Autistic characters’ support needs and rater characteristics (autism knowledge, neurodiversity endorsement, and contact quantity) predicted stigma in at least one domain, and after accounting for these variables, participants’ nationality was suggestively associated only with stigma towards social characteristics and RIRB. Findings highlight the need for culturally adapted-training that provides contact with diverse autistic people.

Comments

This work was originally published in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders available at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10803-022-05739-0

This article is made available for unrestricted research re-use and secondary analysis in any form or by any means with acknowledgement of the original source. These permissions are granted for the duration of the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic.