Improving Quality of Life for an Adult with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Quality of Life may be defined as the degree to which a person enjoys the important possibilities of his or her life. Quality of Life for people with autism spectrum disorder consists of the same aspects of life as for all other people. But people on the autism spectrum have their own specific needs that must be met to ensure a good quality of life, to include the quality of the environment (group homes, residential facilities and community living options) in which the person with autism lives.

To improve the quality of life for adults on the autism spectrum, the quality of their living environment, i.e., community housing options, residential facilities, residential programs, residential schools, group homes, supported housing, and housing alternatives should be carefully considered.

A quality environment:

Provides basic needs including healthy and appealing food, shelter, safety and social contact;
Provides a caring place of residence chosen from options along a continuum of residential services;
Provides a range of opportunities within the individual’s potential;
Provides control and choice within that environment;
Provides proper autism treatment for consumers and autism-specific training of direct support staff and their supervisors to ensure a proper understanding of the issues that affect adults with autism spectrum disorder; and
Provides augmentative communication tools, technology and related services to help consumers with autism communicate wants and desires and interact meaningfully with others.