Mental Well-being of Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Abstract

Aim of the Study: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a unique disorder that cannot be easily diagnosed; every individual with autism is different from another individual, and faces different issues in their life span such as lacking in social communication, socialization, cognition, and behavioral issues, etc. These problems may vary from individual to individual and differ in severity level. However, adults with autism tackled more mental health problems in their adulthood as compared to their childhood. For this purpose, it was hypothesized that adults with ASD faced many more mental health issues in their social settings.

Methodology: This survey research used a quantitative approach and the data was collected through convenience sampling method. The sample was adults with autism (N=90), having the age ranged from 17 years and above with mild to moderate severity levels and Asperger. The Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Well-Being Scale (WEMWBS) was used to collect the data, which was analyzed through descriptive statistics and ANOVA test to find the gender differences.

Findings: Results showed that adults with ASD faced multifarious mental health problems in different areas of their lives, especially in social settings. Low scores were observed in almost all items of the WEMWBS, which indicates low mental well-being in adults with ASD.

Conclusion: The main reason for low mental-health and well-being is stigmatization, isolation, bullying, incantation/black-magic as treatment, etc., instead of medical or therapeutic services. It was recommended that the barrier of stigma should be removed through awareness related programs at different governmental levels, elementary level at school and start campaigns through media.