A critical reflection on definitions of autistic well-being

Added on 01/07/2024

Type de contenu

Journal article of the type Commentary ( ; english)

Michele Deakin, Stephanie Petty, Brett Heasman, Lorna Hamilton , A critical reflection on definitions of autistic well-being published in the journal "Brain and behavior", Preprint, 3 pages , doi:10.1002/brb3.3572

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Our ongoing systematic literature review of psychological well-being interventions for autistic adults highlighted that the concept of well- being has been poorly operationalized for autistic people in clinical literature. Our investigation aims to contribute a novel review of how well psychological well-being interventions are designed for autis- tic adults. While assumptions around the definition of autism have been critiqued extensively in literature (Heasman & Parfitt, 2023) our review of 69 studies found that the concept of “well-being”, as it applies to autistic people, has received comparatively little attention. We raise three issues with the current oversimplification of well-being when it is understood as a return to “normal” functioning through the remediation of ill-being. We suggest that a way forward is to embrace contemporary theorizing of both being autistic (Chapman, 2021; Kourti, 2021) and of experiencing wellness vulnerabilities (van Os et al., 2019). A review of what is meant by autistic well-being would inform clinical and research practices.

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(2) Authors listed in this bibliography whose names are in color have published other resources referenced on the site. Clicking on the name allows you to see the list of resources they have published and shared on the site;

(3) Authors whose names are followed by an asterisk have publicly disclosed being autistic. [Learn more about this mention]

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