Neurodiversity, Quality of Life, and Autistic Adults: Shifting Research and Professional Focuses onto Real-Life Challenges

TLDR

The author, an autistic researcher, contrasts the deficit model that views autistic people as ill and broken with a neurodiversity perspective that frames autism as a form of human diversity with strengths and challenges. The article examines quality‑of‑life challenges faced by autistic adults and proposes a collaborative, neurodiversity‑compatible framework based on Schalock’s model to develop meaningful solutions. The author analyzes Schalock’s core quality‑of‑life domains in detail as they relate to autistic adults, using a neurodiversity‑compatible lens. Keywords: Autism, Neurodiversity, Quality of life, Autistic Adults.

Abstract

This article examines challenges to the quality of life experienced by autistic adults. The author, who is an autistic researcher, first shares how a neurodiversity perspective offers an important alternative to the deficit model of autism. Whereas the deficit model portrays autistic people as ill, broken, and in need of fixing, the neurodiversity perspective portrays it as a form of human diversity with associated strengths and difficulties. The article’s discussion then shifts to presenting Schalock’s (2000) quality of life framework as a neurodiversity-compatible lens through which domains of quality of life can be viewed. The article analyzes in detail these core domains in relation to the lives of autistic adults. The author suggests that a collaborative approach between professionals/researchers and autistic adults is needed to develop meaningful solutions to these challenges, and he presents possibilities for collaboration. KeywordsAutism, Neurodiversity, Quality of life, Autistic Adults