Homelessness as a Product of Social Exclusion: Reinterpreting Autistic Adults’ Narratives through the Lens of Critical Disability Studies

Abstract

Emerging research in the UK suggests a disproportionate number of autistic adults experience homelessness. This paper reinterprets findings from a narrative study on autism and homelessness through the lens of Critical Disability Studies (CDS). Ten autistic participants who had experienced homelessness took part in narrative interviews focussing on their life history. Throughout their lives, participants experienced repeated social and economic exclusion, which ultimately led to homelessness. This paper uses CDS to examine how normative social expectations may increase risk of homelessness for autistic people. It also considers how some participants renegotiated their autistic identities and became self-advocates. Using dis/human theory, it is argued that the autism label provides a framework from which to challenge social exclusion. To reduce risk of homelessness for autistic adults, structural changes are required that reposition accepted forms of personhood.