Supporting a ‘good life’ for autistic children: Autistic adults’ and parents’ perspectives

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Simpson, K., Allen, C., Wheeley, E., Pellicano, E., Heyworth, M., Houting, J. d., Bowen, R., & Adams, D. (2026). Supporting a ‘good life’ for autistic children: Autistic adults’ and parents’ perspectives. Autism, 30(4), 972-982. https://doi.org/10.1177/13623613261418945

Publication date: 18 Feb 2026 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
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Authors

Publication authors
8
Publication authors identified as autistic
2 / 8 (25.0%)
  1. Kate Simpson
  2. Connie Allen
  3. Elizabeth Wheeley
  4. Elizabeth Pellicano
  1. Melanie Heyworth *
  2. Jacquiline den Houting *
  3. Rachael Bowen
  4. Dawn Adams

Abstract

There has been limited research into what helps to promote autistic children’s quality of life. This qualitative study, co-produced with autistic people, aimed to identify, from multiple perspectives, what helps autistic children to live a ‘good life’. We conducted semi-structured interviews with autistic adults ( n = 28) and parents of autistic children ( n = 29). Using reflexive thematic analysis, we identified four themes: Being accepted by others in a way that allows the child to be themselves; Finding ‘the things that light [the child]’; Having a sense of control over their own life and Physical/sensory environments matter. All themes were common to both autistic adults and parents of autistic children, with the exception of one sub-theme, which was predominantly driven by autistic adults’ responses. These findings highlight potential pathways to support autistic children’s quality of life now and into the future. Lay Abstract There hasn’t been much research about what helps autistic children to live a ‘good life’ or to have a good quality of life. This makes it difficult to know how to help autistic children to do so. In this study, we asked autistic adults and parents of autistic children what they thought helped autistic children to live a ‘good life’. They mentioned four important areas. These were (a) autistic children being accepted as their real or true self, (b) autistic children finding the things that they enjoy and that energise them, (c) autistic children having a sense of control in their life and (d) physical environments that suit autistic children’s sensory needs. These are things that can be changed in the autistic child’s environment to support the autistic child in living a good life.

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These indicators describe the cited bibliography imported for this publication. Cited-reference metrics use the cited-reference total as denominator. Cited-author metrics state whether they use all cited-author occurrences or only occurrences linked to authors already integrated in the AutiHub database. They use cached links between cited authors and authors integrated in the AutiHub database. Last computed: 16 Aug 2026 11:30.

Cited references
42
Total cited references integrated for this publication.
Cited references with an identified autistic author
8 / 42 (19.0%)
Cited author occurrences identified as autistic
15 / 185 (8.1%)
Among occurrences linked to AutiHub author records: 15 / 82 (18.3%). Distinct cited authors identified as autistic: 12 / 171 (7.0%).
Cited author occurrences linked to AutiHub author records
82 / 185 (44.3%)
Distinct linked cited authors: 70 / 171 (40.9%)
Linked cited-author occurrences not identified as autistic
67 / 82 (81.7%)
Among linked cited-author occurrences only. Across all cited-author occurrences: 67 / 185 (36.2%). Distinct linked cited authors not identified as autistic: 58 / 70 (82.9%).
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