Clinical Resources for Autism Suicide Prevention | SPAN Toolkit

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training

additional resources

policy.

Department of Health, Disability and Aging. (2025). National Roadmap to Improve the Health and Mental Health of Autistic People 2025–2035

Hedley, D., Haschek, A., Brown, C., Batterham, P., Dwyer, P., Gibbs, V., den Houting, J., John, T., Lawson, W., Rabba, A. S., Revill, J., Robinson, J., Santomauro, D., Staheli, N., Stokes, M., Templin, C., Trollor, J., & Wilson, J. (2024). Suicide in autism: Research evidence and policy brief. La Trobe University.

National Mental Health Commission. (2025). National suicide prevention strategy 2025-2035.

Productivity Commission. (2025). Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement Review.

Recommendations from the 2021 Australasian Society for Autism Research “Health, Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention in Autism” Conference and Roundtable

Suicide Prevention Australia (2021). Suicide Prevention: A Competency Framework.

online resources.

Autism CRC Health Hub

CurtinX: Autism and Mental Health

Suicide Prevention Australia

Suicide Response Project

Talks and transcripts from the 2021 Australasian Society for Autism Research “Health, Wellbeing and Suicide Prevention in Autism” Conference

Plain language summaries of prior Suicide Prevention Australia funded work:

The Suicide Response Project (SRP)
Screening & Assessment Tool Development
The Global Burden of Suicide
Access to Mental Healthcare Services
Suicidal Behaviour Across the Lifespan

Warning Signs of Suicide for Autistic People

peer reviewed literature.

Brown, C. M., Newell, V., Sahin, E., & Hedley, D. (2024). Updated systematic review of suicide in autism: 2018-2024. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 1-32.

Goodwin, J., Gordon, I., O'Keeffe, S., Carling, S., Berresford, A., Bhattarai, N., ... & Cassidy, S. (2025). Adapting safety plans for autistic adults with involvement from the autism community. Autism in Adulthood, 7(3), 293-302.

Hedley, D. & Uljarević, M. (2018). Systematic review of suicide in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Current trends and implications. Current Developmental Disorders Reports, 5, 65-76.

Hedley, D., Batterham, P. J., Bury, S. M., Clapperton, A., Denney, K., Dissanayake, C., ... & Stokes, M. A. (2023). The Suicidal Ideation Attributes Scale-Modified (SIDAS-M): Development and preliminary validation of a new scale for the measurement of suicidal ideation in autistic adults. Autism, 27(4), 1115-1131.

Hedley, D., Williams, Z. J., Deady, M., Batterham, P. J., Bury, S. M., Brown, C. M., Robinson, J., Trollor, J. N., Uljarević, M., & Stokes, M. A. (2025). The Suicide Assessment Kit-Modified Interview: Development and preliminary validation of a modified clinical interview for the assessment of suicidal thoughts and behavior in autistic adults. Autism, 29(3), 766-787.

Moseley, R. L., Marsden, S. J., Pelton, M., Weir, E., Procyshyn, T., Allison, C. L., Parsons, T. A., Cassidy, S., Chikaura, T., Hodges, H., Mosse, D., Rodgers, J., Hall, L., Owens, L., Cheyette, J., Crichton, D., Hedley, D., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2026). “The best way we can stop suicides is by making lives worth living”: A mixed-methods survey in the UK of perspectives on suicide prevention from the autism community. eClinicalMedicine https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.126498.

Moseley, R. L., Procyshyn, T., Chikaura, T., Marsden, S. J., Parsons, T., Cassidy, S., Allison, C. T., Pelton, M., Weir, E., Crichton, D., Mosse, D., Rodgers, J., Hall, L., Owens, L., Cheyette, J., Hodges, H., Hedley, D., & Baron-Cohen, S. (2026). Community priorities for preventing suicide in autistic people: An approach to guide policy and practice. Autism in Adulthood. Advance online publication.

Rodgers, J., Cassidy, S., Pelton, M., Goodwin, J., Wagnild, J., Bhattarai, N., ... & Vale, L. (2024). Feasibility and acceptability of autism adapted safety plans: an external pilot randomised controlled trial. EClinicalMedicine, 73.

Rodgers, J., Goodwin, J., Nielsen, E., Bhattarai, N., Heslop, P., Kharatikoopaei, E., ...& Cassidy, S. (2023). Adapted suicide safety plans to address self-harm, suicidal ideation, and suicide behaviours in autistic adults: protocol for a pilot randomised controlled trial. Pilot and feasibility studies, 9(1), 31.

Santomauro, D. F., Hedley, D., Sahin, E., Brugha, T. S., Naghavi, M., Vos, T., Whiteford, H. A., Ferrari, A. J., & Stokes, M. A. (2024). The global burden of suicide mortality among people on the autism spectrum: A systematic review, meta-analysis, and extension of estimates from the Global Burden of Disease Study 2021. Psychiatry Research, 341, 116150.

Schwartzman, J. M., McMorris, C. A., Brown, C. M., Trollor, J., Uljarević, M., Stokes, M. A., Williams, Z. J., & Hedley, D. (2025). Elevated suicidal thoughts and behaviors and non-suicidal self-injury in autistic youth and adults: A multinational study. Autism in Adulthood. Advance online publication

Wilson, J., Brown, C. M., Hayward, S. M., Stokes, M. A., Nicholas, D., & Hedley, D. (2025). Autistic Adults’ Experiences Seeking and Receiving Support for Mental Health and Suicidal Thoughts and Behavior. Autism in Adulthood. Advance online publication.

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