An Experience Sensitive Approach to Care with and for Autistic Children and Young People in Clinical Services
McGreevy, Quinn, Law, Botha, Evans, Rose, Moyse, Boyens, Matejko and Pavlopoulou (2023)
Support schemes for children and young people within Autism clinical services are often neuro-normative and focus on a behaviouralist approach. Medicalised approaches undermine the person and restrict authentic selfhood and self-expression whilst ignoring the impact of a hostile environment on wellbeing. This current model of working obscures the potential for an alternative humanistic informed framework of care for staff working with Autistic young people. This article focuses on the lifeworld-led model of care by Todres et al.. They detail how those working in mental health can incorporate the eight dimensions of care into daily practice. The authors stress that by being neuro-inclusive a culture of respect, honouring the self-hood and sovereignty of the person, prioritising collaborative and personalised care and decision making is developed. This enables practitioners to work from an existential, humanistic viewpoint, with a core focus of wellbeing and Autistic acceptance. Real progress within the field cannot be made without a meaningful change towards neurodiversity-affirming support. The article concludes by outlining that in order to prevent poor mental health outcomes for Autistic people across their life span, this change needs to happen across research, clinical and educational context.
