Original studyEating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, 2026Read the paper →
Autistic adults recovering from eating disorders want support that recognises both experiences, rather than treating their needs as an obstacle to care. A survey suggests that connecting with people who understand autism and eating disorders could offer a valued source of acceptance, although it has not tested whether peer support improves recovery.
The qualitative study, published online on 6 July 2026 in Eating Disorders: The Journal of Treatment & Prevention, gathered the views of 25 autistic adults. Researchers at the University of Aberdeen, the University of Edinburgh, and partner institutions explored what participants wanted from peer support and where it might cause harm.
Adults could participate if they had current or previous experience of an eating disorder and could read written English. The study included people with a clinical autism diagnosis and those who identified themselves as autistic, rather than requiring a formal diagnosis.
Participants completed an online survey about the purpose, format, activities, and possible risks of peer support. Researchers analysed their written answers to identify four themes, with autistic and non-autistic team members contributing perspectives that included lived experience of eating disorders and peer support.
One theme concerned understanding eating difficulties through an autistic perspective. Participants described how eating disorder behaviours could relate to managing overwhelming experiences, emotions, or a need for control, and wanted support that recognised these individual experiences.
Another theme focused on developing a positive autistic identity. Respondents wanted opportunities to learn from others, feel less alone, and replace feelings of being broken with greater understanding of themselves.
Participants also wanted a welcoming space where they would not feel pressured to hide their autistic characteristics. Suggested arrangements included allowing movement and comfort items, avoiding demands for eye contact, and providing information about a venue’s sensory environment beforehand.
Practical safeguards mattered as much as connection. Respondents suggested agreeing boundaries and preferred language, respecting different communication needs, and establishing clear expectations for how people would treat one another.
The final theme concerned the possibility of harm. Participants worried about triggering conversations, comparisons over eating disorder severity, and feeling misunderstood again, while some preferred a community setting because clinical environments could bring back distressing experiences.
The findings offer ideas for designing autism-affirming peer support alongside healthcare, not evidence that a particular programme works. No peer support intervention was delivered or compared with usual treatment, and the survey did not measure improvements in recovery caused by attending a group.
The sample also limits how widely the results can be applied. All 25 participants were white, 19 were female, and the group was largely highly educated, with substantial representation of restrictive eating disorders.
An online survey may miss people with limited digital access, and the researchers said it remained unclear whether peer support would serve different age groups in the same way. Future work needs to develop and evaluate programmes with a wider range of autistic adults, checking both potential benefits and the safeguards needed to avoid harm.
