Harnessing Autistic Strengths, Identity and Wellbeing

Wellbeing in autism comes from the interaction between supporting autistic people to develop and improve their individual capabilities to their full potential and meet personal aspirations (Pellicano et al., 2022), and the need for wider systems and societal environments to recognize and accept autistic people’s unique strengths and differences, and make environmental adaptations to provide opportunities for autistic flourishing (Lai et al., 2020). Our workshop will bring together researchers, practitioners, and autism community stakeholders from different global regions will discuss, debate and synthesize facilitators and barriers to support wellbeing, strengths, and identity development in autistic people. We will draw on theory, empirical evidence, and autistic people’s lived experience to develop clinical and societal interventions to enhance wellbeing in autism.