Clegg Anna, Wood Jade, Hobson Hannah, Sedgewick Felicity
Psychology Department, University of York, York, United Kingdom.
School of Education, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.
Autism Adulthood. 2024 Jun 17;6(2):162-176. doi: 10.1089/aut.2022.0091. eCollection 2024 Jun.
The World Health Organization recommended that individuals use a facemask to prevent the ongoing spread of COVID-19. Many governments implemented this recommendation into law. However, the increased usage of facemasks may have had particular impacts on the autistic population, due to differences in emotion processing, sensory issues, and anxiety about regularly changing rules. This research aimed to investigate the lived experiences of autistic people when wearing facemasks and their experiences interacting with others wearing facemasks.
First, the research team conducted a content analysis of social media posts ( = 124) created by autistic individuals. Based on this, we developed a novel questionnaire and distributed it so that autistic adults could share their facemask experiences ( = 49).
Seven main themes were identified from the social media analyses: general attitudes toward masks, sensory issues, "wear-a-mask" message, rules and expectations, sunflower lanyards, social problems and benefits, and mask exemption. Secondary questionnaire responses highlighted that the experience of facemasks was mixed. Many individuals experienced sensory issues. Yet, for some individuals, there were benefits: they did not have to monitor their facial expressions to camouflage their autistic responses. Participants reported differing opinions on the topic of mask exemption, and the sunflower lanyard as a symbol of mask exemption. Data did not suggest anxiety around rule changes but did suggest feelings of anger at others who were perceived not to be following the rules.
These findings highlight the mixed experiences of autistic people with facemasks and suggest lessons for future events in which there are rapid changes to public health messaging.
世界卫生组织建议个人佩戴口罩以防止新冠病毒的持续传播。许多政府已将这一建议纳入法律。然而，由于情感处理、感官问题以及对规则频繁变化的焦虑等方面的差异，口罩使用的增加可能对自闭症患者群体产生了特殊影响。本研究旨在调查自闭症患者佩戴口罩时的生活体验以及他们与其他佩戴口罩者互动的经历。
首先，研究团队对自闭症患者发布的社交媒体帖子（n = 124）进行了内容分析。在此基础上，我们设计了一份新颖的问卷并进行分发，以便自闭症成年人能够分享他们佩戴口罩的经历（n = 49）。
从社交媒体分析中确定了七个主要主题：对口罩的总体态度、感官问题、“佩戴口罩”信息、规则与期望、向日葵挂绳、社交问题与益处以及口罩豁免。问卷的二次反馈强调，佩戴口罩的体验喜忧参半。许多人经历了感官问题。然而，对一些人来说，也有好处：他们不必刻意控制面部表情来掩饰自己的自闭症反应。参与者对口罩豁免这一话题以及作为口罩豁免象征的向日葵挂绳表达了不同的看法。数据并未表明对规则变化存在焦虑，但确实表明对那些被认为不遵守规则的人感到愤怒。
这些发现凸显了自闭症患者佩戴口罩的复杂体验，并为未来公共卫生信息迅速变化的事件提供了经验教训。
