Focusing on happiness & wellbeing: defining outcomes for autistic people. Peter Vermeulen

Outcome studies in autism have focused mainly on more ‘objective’ measures of outcomes, such as cognitive and academic functioning, health, employment, living situation, quantitative and qualitative measurements of relationships, and measurements of autistic symptoms.
But what about the one thing all human beings desire: a healthy and happy life?

Wellbeing has received (too) little attention in the autism field and if it was addressed, it has been from a rather negative perspective. Most studies into the wellbeing of autistic people have focused primarily on the lack of emotional wellbeing, i.e. the presence of mental health problems. They have given evidence for an increased risk of mental health problems in autism, especially anxiety and depression.
But what if we would take a more positive approach and focus not on the prevention of negative feelings but, inspired by the principles of positive psychology, on the initiation and encouragement of positive feelings?

The time has come to make a U-turn in our approach and to start targeting those things that help autistic people in achieving a happy, healthy and empowered life. The reason is simple: happy and healthy autistic people are not just needing support from society, they contribute to society, just as any other happy and healthy citizen.

In this lecture we will explore some of the aspects of a ‘wellbeing focused’ approach in autism, that is: how to assess possible sources of well-being in autism and how we should strive not only towards more autism friendliness but also towards more autistic friendliness.