A Critical Review of Academic Literature Constructing Well-Being in Autistic Adults

Lam, Gary Yu Hin; Sabnis, Sujay; Valcarlos, María Migueliz; Wolgemuth, Jennifer R.

doi:10.1089/aut.2020.0053

Cited by 25 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 94 publications

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“…Neurodiversity, on the other hand, encourages us to be open to a wider range of potential conceptualisations of a good life. Measured according to neuronormative standards, that is, many autistic people are assumed to have poor quality of life, but this view can change if autism‐specific values, goals and needs are taken into account (Lam, Sabnis, Migueliz Valcarlos, & Wolgemuth, 2021 ). Indeed, when autistic people have been involved in determining outcomes that are relevant to their quality of life, they have identified unique factors including other people’s knowledge and acceptance of autism; sensory processing differences; supporting other people and positive autistic identity (McConachie et al., 2020 ).…”

Section: Neurodiversity: Is It Time For a Paradigm Shift?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science

Pellicano

Houting

2021

Child Psychology Psychiatry

257

180

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Since its initial description, the concept of autism has been firmly rooted within the conventional medical paradigm of child psychiatry. Increasingly, there have been calls from the autistic community and, more recently, nonautistic researchers, to rethink the way in which autism science is framed and conducted. Neurodiversity, where autism is seen as one form of variation within a diversity of minds, has been proposed as a potential alternative paradigm. In this review, we concentrate on three major challenges to the conventional medical paradigman overfocus on deficits, an emphasis on the individual as opposed to their broader context and a narrowness of perspectiveeach of which necessarily constrains what we can know about autism and how we are able to know it. We then outline the ways in which fundamental elements of the neurodiversity paradigm can potentially help researchers respond to the medical model's limitations. We conclude by considering the implications of a shift towards the neurodiversity paradigm for autism science.

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Section: Neurodiversity: Is It Time For a Paradigm Shift?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science

Pellicano

Houting

2021

Child Psychology Psychiatry

257

180

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“…This focus on intervention and normativity detracts from the importance of the overall message from the participants themselves. Their testimony demonstrated that gaming has a positive impact on the subjective well-being of autistic people, and may provide valuable insights into the ways in which autistic people manage their own mental health needs (Lam et al, 2021).…”

Section: Interventionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Autism has long been framed as a ‘disorder’, characterized by ‘deficits’ in social communication and imagination, and repetitive and restricted interests (APA, 2013). Thus, the majority of literature has viewed any autistic interest as either potentially pathological or a source of potential therapeutic intervention (Lam et al, 2021). In a review of the literature on well‐being in autistic adults, Lam et al (2021) argue that most research in this area has focused on ‘objective’ measurements of (normative) constructions of well‐being, rather than on how autistic people subjectively understand and achieve well‐being in their own lives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘I can actually do it without any help or someone watching over me all the time and giving me constant instruction’: Autistic adolescent boys' perspectives on engagement in online video gaming

Pavlopoulou

Usher

Pearson

2022

British J of Dev Psycho

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Research into autistic adolescents' engagement in online gaming has so far focused on time spent gaming, or characterizing problematic gaming behaviour and has relied mostly on caregiver report. In the current study, we interviewed 12 autistic adolescent boys, asking about their perspectives on their engagement in online gaming, and their motivations. We analysed the interview data using thematic analysis and identified three key themes in the data, which focused on agency and a sense of belonging, emotion regulation, and acknowledgement of the differing perceptions that the young people and their caregivers had of gaming.Our findings show the need to include the viewpoints of autistic young people in research about their interests and well-being, and provide insights that can help caregivers and professionals to support autistic young people in flourishing.

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“…Therefore, aspects of exclusion/dissatisfaction could bear more similarity to internalised stigma, which could thus have a more negative relationship with self-esteem. Additionally, there may have been weaker relationships with wellbeing as the measure may not have captured autistic wellbeing accurately (Lam et al, 2021). Wellbeing may also be more subjective and multidimensional than self-esteem (Rosenberg et al, 1995).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Personal Identity After an Autism Diagnosis: Relationships With Self-Esteem, Mental Wellbeing, and Diagnostic Timing

2021

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Adults are increasingly seeking autism diagnoses, although less is known about their experiences of diagnosis and personal identity (i.e., autism as part of “me”), and how this relates to self-esteem and wellbeing. One-hundred and fifty-one autistic adults completed an online survey including measures of self-esteem, psychological wellbeing, and autistic personal identity, which considered whether participants took pride in or were dissatisfied with being autistic. Fifty-four participants answered a qualitative question about the impact of receiving an autism diagnosis on their sense of self. Regression analyses found that greater time elapsed since diagnosis related to less dissatisfaction with autistic personal identity. We also found that more dissatisfaction with autistic personal identity predicted lower self-esteem, and more autism pride predicted higher self-esteem. Content analysis of participants’ experiences supported the quantitative findings and was suggestive of an emotive post-diagnostic adjustment process. Future research should aim to identify ways to promote the development of a positive autistic personal identity post-diagnosis in adulthood.

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A Critical Review of Academic Literature Constructing Well-Being in Autistic Adults

Cited by 25 publications

References 94 publications

Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science

Annual Research Review: Shifting from ‘normal science’ to neurodiversity in autism science

‘I can actually do it without any help or someone watching over me all the time and giving me constant instruction’: Autistic adolescent boys' perspectives on engagement in online video gaming

Personal Identity After an Autism Diagnosis: Relationships With Self-Esteem, Mental Wellbeing, and Diagnostic Timing

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