AD1043: Demonstrate your understanding of the Relationship Between Autism and Mental Health: Autism, Mental Health and Wellbeing Personal Reflection, UCC, Ireland

reflective assignment on a chosen topic related to autism and mental health.

You may choose your own title (this title should ideally signal the topic being reflected upon in the assignment).

Ensure your reflection is clearly linked to the topic of ASD and mental health (rather than mental health in general). This is an opportunity for you to:

Demonstrate your understanding of the relationship between autism and mental health. Outline your initial impressions and conceptions of a topic and then consider, upon further reading and lectures, your own responses to what you have learned and if your view or understanding has changed.

Questions to consider:

Why have you chosen this topic to reflect on?

Why do you think the way you do about this topic? Was there a particular moment or piece of information when your understanding of a topic changed?

Are there any particular internal or external factors that you feel influence your understanding of this topic?

Are there other perspectives on this topic? If so, what are they?

*As this assignment is based on your own reflection you may use the first person in this assignment (i.e ‘I think that…)

The role of loneliness as a mediator between autism features and mental health among autistic young adults.

Autism and the double empathy problem: Implications for development and mental health.

This article proposes a link between autistic people being misperceived by the neurotypical majority and their being at risk of poor mental health and well-being. We present a transactional account of development in which the misperceptions (and consequent behavior) of the neurotypical majority influence the perceptions and behavior of autistic people such that they become increasingly separate and indeed isolated from mainstream society.

This jeopardizes their mental health and prevents autistic people from developing to their full potential. The situation is not only problematic for the development of autistic people but is also to the detriment of wider society, in so far as autistic people are effectively prevented from contributing fully. This account assumes that some (not necessarily all) autistic people yearn to be included, to be productive, and to be useful. It thus directly opposes accounts that view autism as an extreme case of diminished social motivation.