To slightly paraphrase the Spectrum News link copy about this study, “autistic people value research on quality of life and social well-being, according to a large online survey, two large meetings[,] three focus groups[, and literally any other autistic adult I’ve ever seen talk about this]”.
Through a variety of methods including a large online survey, two large stakeholder meetings, and three face-to-face focus groups, the project team identified five top priorities for mental health research which should be incorporated by researchers and practitioners in their work with autistic adults. These included research to inform trauma-informed care approaches; societal approaches for inclusion and acceptance of autistic individuals; community-available approaches for self-management of mental health; evaluation of adverse mental health outcomes of existing interventions; and improvements in measurement of quality of life, social well-being, and other preferred outcomes in autistic adults.