A Picture Paints a Thousand Words: Understanding How People Conceptualise Autism Through Images

Conceptions of autism and neurodiversity vary widely, with differing views on how they are portrayed in contemporary culture. Although autism scholars have long advocated for greater involvement of autistic individuals in knowledge creation, meaningful co-production between autistic stakeholders, researchers, and the broader community remains limited. To explore differences in autism knowledge between autistic and non-autistic people, we used a qualitative method called visual elicitation. We invited the public to upload an image they felt represented autism and explain their choice. Through thematic analysis of these images and their accompanying descriptions, we identified three key themes highlighting how autism is currently conceptualised: metaphors, the medical model, and the social model of disability. We then used inferential statistics to explore if and how these conceptualisations differed across autistic and non-autistic respondents. Only one of these themes differentially occurred across groups. Autistic participants were more likely to focus on the social model of disability and its subthemes compared to non-autistic participants. To showcase the depth of these responses, we recreated selected images using AI to include here. The findings highlight the influence of the neurodiversity movement and the role of autism-related imagery in shaping public perceptions.