About

Workshop Summary

According to research, Autistic people, on average, experience very poor quality of life outcomes, regardless of the comparison group. But what do we really know and understand about autistic quality of life and wellbeing? How is it assessed, understood, and analysed? How is this translated into intervention and support?

This 4-hour workshop is an in-depth look at the research on quality of life in the autistic population and how we can work toward changing these outcomes

Learning outcomes

• The history of research into autistic quality of life
• Research methodologies and how that impacts on how we implement and use supports
• Current issues in quality of life research
• Assessing quality of life and wellbeing under a neurodiversity paradigm

Presentation outline

• Understanding quality of life
  • Questions and 5 min break
• Quality of life research in the autistic population
  • Questions and 10 min break
• Quality of life under a neurodiverse paradigm
  • Questions and 5 min break
• Person-centered quality of life therapeutic framework
  • Questions
• Close

Presentation in detail

Understanding quality of life

• What is quality of life research
• How is it measured
• Terminology and definitions
• Quality of life in the general population

Quality of life research in the autistic population

• A brief history of quality of life research in the autistic population
• How is quality of life measured
• Assessment tools used
• The mismatch between the autistic profile and research goals
• Current issues with the tools we use
• Is what we know about quality of life in the autistic population accurate?

Quality of life under a neurodiverse paradigm

• What are the impacts on quality of life under a neurodiversity paradigm and how do we measure it?
• What impacts on autistic quality of life

Person-centered quality of life therapeutic framework

• How do we ensure that we are focusing on quality of life throughout the therapeutic process?