Impacts of a Neuroaffirming Crafting Workshop on Wellbeing in Autistic Young Adults
Presenter: Dani Wagner
Faculty Sponsor: Ashley Woodman
School: UMass Amherst
Research Area: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences
Session: Poster Session 1, 10:30 AM - 11:15 AM, 163, C30
ABSTRACT
Autistic young adults often experience lower levels of social support and higher levels of depression and anxiety symptoms than their non-autistic peers. These psychosocial outcomes can potentially be improved by semi-structured group activities, such as Dungeons & Dragons groups. Ongoing questions remain about the most helpful types of activities and how they impact autistic young adults. The present study hosted three-week group crafting workshops for autistic young adults, consisting of modifying weighted stuffed animals by dyeing them and adding weight. Data was collected two weeks before, during, and two weeks after the intervention. After the last workshop and at a 2-week follow-up, participants completed researcher-created surveys to evaluate the impact on participants’ feelings and connectedness. Participants were 25 autistic young adults aged 18-25 (M=20.07). Data collection and analysis are still ongoing. Preliminary findings show that all participants reported that their positive feelings “increased” or “significantly increased” while 82% of participants reported that their negative feelings “decreased” or “significantly decreased”. Additionally, 91% of participants reported that the workshop led to “improvement” or “strong improvement” in their connections with others. At the two-week follow-up, all participants agreed that their stuffed animals made them feel more positive emotions. These findings suggest that the crafting workshop series is a potentially useful method of improving affect and sense of connection in autistic young adults. Future work should attempt to replicate these findings in other age ranges or a broader range of autistic populations.