“I’m not mad, bad, and dangerous … simply wired differently”: Exploring factors contributing to good quality of life with autistic women

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Paricos, A., Sturrock, A., Twomey, K. E., & Leadbitter, K. (2024). “I’m not mad, bad, and dangerous … simply wired differently”: Exploring factors contributing to good quality of life with autistic women. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 112, 102338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2024.102338

Publication date: 11 Feb 2024 Added to AutiHub: 6 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Arianna Paricos
  2. Alexandra Sturrock
  3. Katherine E. Twomey *
  4. Kathy Leadbitter

Abstract

There is increasing recognition of under-representation of autistic women in the academic literature and the impact of this on understanding, diagnosis, and support. Previous research has suggested that autistic women have poorer quality of life (QoL) than the general population. However, these findings have been established through use of QoL measures based on non-autistic norms and priorities. This qualitative study used bottom-up, reflexive thematic analysis methods to explore how ten autistic women defined good QoL, and the factors identified as key to achieving this, using individual semi-structured interviews. Findings indicate four main themes that represent routes to good QoL: positive sense of self; feeling supported; autonomy; inclusion. Participants noted that being autistic itself was not a determinant of reduced QoL. Instead, participants’ QoL was underpinned by the extent to which participants understood themselves, others understood and accommodated their needs, and the person-environment fit. The findings of this study align with a positive approach to neurological difference and have implications for diagnosis, post-diagnostic support and applications of current QoL measures for autistic women.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 08:05.

Cited references
59
With a DOI
56
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
3
11 / 59 (18.6%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
2 / 59 (3.4%)
References with detected author names
57 / 59 (96.6%)
Without detected author names
2
Without a structured title
2
Without a stable identifier
3
References with raw author names still to review
2
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
223
From DOI or external metadata
223
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
2
108 / 223 (48.4%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 115 / 223 (51.6%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
20 / 223 (9.0%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 20 / 108 (18.5%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 16 / 192 (8.3%).
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