The Asdeu Multi-Site Survey of Services for Autistic Adults in Europe, Focusing on Customer Service Practices in Adult Services

Background: The research base on ASD in adulthood is underdeveloped and there is very little knowledge regarding autistic adult services practices and delivery.

Objectives: To improve understanding of current services practices for autistic adults and opportunities for improvement as part of the Autism Spectrum Disorder in the European Union (ASDEU) project comprised of 20 partners in 14 European Union (EU) states. The presentation will describe ASDEU’s anonymous survey designed to obtain information on services availability and user experiences related to autistic adult services in the EU, focusing on adult customer services practices.

Methods: Survey questions were based on published guidelines regarding services for autistic adults; separate versions were created for autistic adults, carers of autistic adults and professionals in adult services. The survey was translated into 11 languages and distributed by ASDEU partners via electronic media hosted by ASD organizations and in-country adult services facilities. The presentation will provide an overview of survey content and results, focusing on ‘theme’ questions on specific ‘good’ services practices that are repeated in different sections of the survey. The specific theme questions concerned services staff members’ customer service competencies: level of ASD knowledge, knowledge of services availability for autistic adults, and providing information in ways autistic adults could understand. Analyses were performed on responses from all three respondent groups to theme questions in sections concerning adult services in general, and residential, employment, adult education, financial and social services areas, specifically.

Results: Currently, 945 respondents have completed the ongoing survey (358 autistic adults (65% female; 50% 18-35 years old), 297 carers of autistic adults (autistic adults described by carers: 27% female; 81% 18-35 years old), 290 professionals in adult services); > 85% of responders are from Denmark, Finland, France, Iceland, Italy and Spain; and 50-60% of responders are from communities of 1 million-20,000 inhabitants. Across all three respondent groups, all services areas, and all theme questions regarding customer service experiences in the past 2 years when applying for services, < 50% of respondents reported that they had experienced ‘good practices’: staff who seemed knowledgeable about ASD; seemed knowledgeable about services that were available for autistic adults; or provided information in understandable ways. Social services offices scored most favorably (35%-48% of adults or carers experienced these good practices) and financial services offices scored least favorably (9%-20% of adults or carers experienced these good practices); a financial service was the most frequent service applied for in the past 2 years by autistic adults (59%) and carers (74%). Carers tended to report a higher rate of experiencing these good practices in the last 2 years (30%-48%) compared to autistic adults (10%-40%).

Conclusions: The ASDEU adult services survey is best viewed as a detailed pilot study based on a large EU convenience sample. In these data, all three respondent groups consistently reported low rates of experience with basic measures of good customer service practices: knowledgeable and trained staff and understandable communication. Redressing these shortfalls may both improve customer service experiences and the efficiency of services delivery for autistic adults.