Autistic Women’s Wellbeing and Quality of Life: Research, Context, and Conversation

At Neurodiversity Belgium, we are committed to creating spaces where research, lived experience, and community knowledge intersect in meaningful and respectful ways. We collaborate with researchers who work not about autistic people, but with them — researchers who recognise that quality of life, wellbeing, and inclusion are shaped as much by social context as by individual differences.

Dr María Merino Martínez’s work exemplifies this approach. Trained in psychology, education, and applied psychosocial support, her research spans autism across the lifespan, with particular attention to autistic women, adults without intellectual disability, and under-recognised populations. She bridges academic scholarship and community practice, ensuring that research findings remain grounded in lived realities.

Dr Merino Martínez will present on her co-authored research on self-perceived quality of life in autistic women, including women who self-identify as autistic but face barriers to formal diagnosis. Her findings demonstrate consistent disparities across domains such as relationships, safety, future security, and life achievement pointing not to individual deficits, but to systemic and structural influences on wellbeing. Importantly, her work affirms self-identified autistic women as a legitimate and necessary population within research, challenging exclusionary diagnostic frameworks.

Beyond quality-of-life research, Dr Merino Martínez has contributed to initiatives focused on life skills development, autonomy, social participation, and psychosocial support. Her work is multidisciplinary, ethically grounded, and shaped through collaboration with autistic people, families, professionals, and community organisations. Across contexts, her emphasis remains consistent: dignity, practical impact, and meaningful inclusion.