Autism and addiction - episode 2

In this two-part podcast the SSA's Rob Calder explores autism and addiction. He talks to Professors Julia Sinclair and Sam Chamberlain, Dr Janine Robinson and Chris Torry from the SABAA: Substance use, Alcohol and Behavioural addictions in Autism project that’s been funded by the SSA. In this second episode we explore treatment, policy and future research in relation to autism and addiction. We start by talking about the importance of co-producing publicity materials for addiction treatment services using universal design principles. Personalisation is always important and ever more so when working with autistic people, thus underlining the importance of involving autistic people in service design.We talk about the experience and expectations that autistic people might have when attending addiction treatment services, and why retention may not mean what you think it means. We then talk about the work of the SABAA project in identifying the gaps in our understanding of autism and addiction. The team talks about conducting a Delphi process and working out what the priorities are for policy, practice and research.They then discuss some of the problems with funding something that is often considered a niche issue within autism and addiction fields.“Things that are autism friendly will also be good quality for other people… By being autism friendly [promotion materials] are more likely to be more accessible by other people too” - Professor Julia Sinclair“With CBT you need to rate things, and some [autistic] people say to me ‘I don’t like rating things. I prefer having colour, blue means this, yellow means that’. They’re different things that mean something to them” - Dr Janine Robinson“The NHS has really changed in that sense, there’s still more work to do, but we’re seeing lived experience become part of the clinical models to a greater extent which is a good thing.” - Professor Sam Chamberlain“The neurology and basis of autism are poorly understood and then you have the neurological factors of addiction and compulsion, and trying to reconcile and differentiate those things is a really complex question” - Chris TorryProfessor Julia SinclairJulia Sinclair is Professor of Addiction Psychiatry in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, and honorary consultant in alcohol liaison at University Hospital Southampton.Dr Janine RobinsonJanine Robinson is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist and a specialist in the field of autism in adults. She completed her DClinPsy at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College, London in 2000.Professor Sam ChamberlainSam Chamberlain is Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Southampton, and Honorary Consultant Psychiatrist at Southern Health NHS Foundation Trust.Chris Torry Chris Torry is autistic and has worked in addiction treatment services for many years. He is part of the SABAA projectThe opinions expressed in this post reflect the views of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions or official positions of the SSA. The SSA does not endorse or guarantee the accuracy of the information in external sources or links and accepts no responsibility or liability for any consequences arising from the use of such information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.