Self-reported community participation experiences and preferences of autistic adults.
Grocery shopping is the single most valued community activity for autistic adults, and protecting their in-store routines while fixing transport and money barriers unlocks wider participation.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Hamama et al. (2021) asked 386 autistic adults what community activities they do and what they want to do more. The team used an online survey in English. They looked at how income, housing, and other diagnoses changed the answers.
What they found
Grocery shopping topped the list. It was the one activity most adults both did and wanted to keep doing. People with lower income, supported housing, ID, or mental-health diagnoses listed fewer activities and said what they did was 'not enough'.
How this fits with other research
Healy et al. (2022) asked about exercise barriers and found the same three killers: no ride, no motivation, and boredom. Together the papers show you must fix transport and motivation before any community goal, groceries or gym.
Park-Cardoso et al. (2023) interviewed Brazilian adults who use strict food routines in stores. Their work flips the script: lining up cans or eating the same brand is not problem behavior; it is self-regulation that makes grocery trips doable. The two studies pair like puzzle pieces—one shows the store is valued, the other shows why rituals protect that value.
Werner et al. (2025) tracked loneliness in autistic teens and young adults. They learned that bad feelings during social moments, not time spent, drive loneliness. Hamama et al. (2021) saw the same pattern: adults with more diagnoses and less money felt their activity level was 'insufficient' even if they left the house. Both papers tell us to target emotional quality, not just hours out in the world.
Why it matters
When you write a community goal, start with grocery trips. Build in the client’s sameness rules—same aisle order, same brand, headphones on. Pair the trip with a quick joy check-in: ‘Rate the outing 1-5.’ If the score is low, ask about transport, money, or mood first, not social skills. These fixes often lift other goals like exercise or friendships.
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
Although participation in communities is a key component of health and well-being, little research has explored community participation among autistic adults. A better understanding of preferences and access to various community activities among autistic adults provides intervention and policy directions in a critical area. This study reports responses from one of the largest groups of autistic adults surveyed to date. Participants reported their valued activities, number of days they participated in each activity during the previous month, and the extent to which they perceived their participation to be sufficient. Grocery shopping was the most common community activity, and most important. A wide range of activities were participated in during the previous month and more than half of the autistic adults reported that most activities were important. Autistic adults with a co-occurring intellectual disability participated in fewer activities and said that fewer activities were important. Sufficiency, or the degree to which an individual felt they participated enough in important activities, was greater for autistic adults with higher incomes and lower for autistic adults who lived independently or had co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses. Breadth of participation, or the number of important types of participation in the past month, was lower for autistic adults residing in supported living facilities and for autistic adults with co-occurring psychiatric diagnoses. Breadth was greater for autistic adults with self-reported service needs. Our study findings offer important information to guide implementation of new federal requirements aimed at promoting greater community participation among individuals covered by Medicaid.
Autism : the international journal of research and practice, 2021 · doi:10.1177/1362361320987682