Harnessing the ‘Well’ in Being: An Exploration of the Wellbeing Experiences of Adolescent Autistic Girls and How These Can Be Supported Within Mainstream Schools

Determining how to support autistic wellbeing has become a high priority for research amid calls from within the community and psychology professions (Autistica, 2015; British Psychological Society, 2021; Gowen et al., 2019; Pellicano et al., 2014; Rodogno et al., 2016). The wellbeing experiences of autistic girls throughout their secondary education are influenced by issues of neurodiversity acceptance, power and social justice. Recognising key adolescent developmental tasks and broader eco-systemic factors, this research adopted a positive psychology approach to explore the lived experiences of wellbeing for autistic girls. A clear social justice goal was identified – to develop a shared construct of autistic girls’ wellbeing so that mainstream schools can review their wellbeing provision. A transformative paradigm was purposed to create a community-led and participatory research space in which seven teenage autistic girls attending mainstream secondary schools became co-researchers. Their role in co-producing the research design, data collection methodology and analysis was instrumental in ensuring the study’s findings were meaningful and impactful. An accessible online forum was created for the co-researcher planning as well as data collection (via semi-structured interviews). Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis was used to honour the voices of the autistic girls at both an individual and group level to emancipate their lived experiences.

Key findings indicated that there are many social, emotional and political factors in the secondary school system which influence the girls’ wellbeing. Integral to their wellbeing is an understanding of how they are creating their autistic identity, balancing their emotions throughout the school day, finding where they belong and coping with the pressures of navigating the complex and often unpredictable school system. School support needs to incorporate whole school awareness of how these factors influence autistic girls’ wellbeing, the creating of an inclusive community space that recognises and celebrates neurodivergent differences, co-production of personalised wellbeing provision (with the help of relationally attuned adults) and a culture of wellbeing that looks beyond the school gates. Implications for Educational Psychologists’ practice in critically challenging school support are discussed and a graduated framework for school leaders is suggested. Recommendation for future research are considered.