Digby, Sonya (2013) Exploring Experiential Understandings of ASD Friendships: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
This qualitative study investigated adult autistic friendships through a neurodiversity lens. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to analyse the data that was collected from public self-presentations currently displayed through YouTube. Two major themes emerged focusing on the tensions between wanting, and not wanting friends, and negotiating social interactions. A prevailing issue presented by participants was feeling pressured to conform to neurotypical expectations. It is widely accepted that autistic individuals lack sociality, and have impaired social and communicative skills therefore failed to establish typical friendships. In contrast, this study has demonstrated that autistic individuals can develop successful and complex friendships based on social rules unique to their autistic relationships. It is suggested that instead of trying to elicit ASD friendships to become more reflective of neurotypical characteristics, an alternative would be to accommodate their needs so as to facilitate and support the inclusion of ASD individuals into mainstream life. These findings have key implications for both clinical and academic arenas through broadening knowledge and understanding of ASD and potentially further refining social skills interventions.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology, Counselling and Community (1 Jul 2013 - 31 Dec 2014) |
| Supervisors: | Charlotte Brownlow |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 02 Oct 2025 00:45 |
| Last Modified: | 02 Oct 2025 00:45 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | autism, autism spectrum disorder (ASD), friendship, interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), neurodiversity |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52268 |
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