By Jiedi Lei, PhD DClinPsy, Paul Foundation Clinical Research Fellow, Oxford Centre for Emerging Minds Research, University of Oxford, UK
“What do you think are some of your strengths in everyday life?” – Researcher
“I’m not sure… I don’t think I have any.” – Autistic Young Person
This was a frequent response I heard from autistic young people I interviewed when I started my Research Fellowship at Oxford in 2023. Embarking on a journey to conduct research on the topic of exploring strengths-based approaches to support autistic young people and their families, I wanted to ensure that we start from a place of embedding autistic young people’s voices at the heart of what we do. With many “I don’t know” from autistic young people when asked what their strengths are, very quickly I realised something was missing. We need to help autistic young people understand what we mean by “strengths’, and we need to support them to spot their strengths in action in everyday life. Put simply, one needs to know what they are looking for before they can find it.
When I started my deep dive into literature looking at how researchers and practitioners define strengths-based approaches in autism, I found that many interventions tapped into focused interests of autistic people and highlighted how their cognitive skills and attentional differences can be harnessed to support transition outcomes such as seeking employment. Such interventions have their value in changing people’s perception of autism to highlight their skills and abilities. However, they also contribute to the creation of a stereotyped account of what autistic strengths or “superpowers” look like, with an overemphasis on cognitive skills, and not enough on personal character. I know that to make a paradigm shift, we needed to look for a framework that celebrates individual differences based on who we are, what we value, and why we do the things we do, not just what can we do.
It was at this time in 2023 that I came across the Character Strengths framework (Peterson & Seligman, 2004). Finding a consistent language framework that identifies 24 humanistic traits that are valued across culture and time, that unites us all in our human lived experience in a way that transcends any diagnostic labels, felt like what I was looking for. At the time, very few research papers have explicitly looked at Character Strengths in autistic people and were mostly limited to the use of self-report questionnaires amongst autistic adults. I wanted to know how we can draw on Character Strengths framework to change the narratives that we construct about strengths when talking to autistic young people. I wanted to know if we could broaden young people’s perspectives to explore which Character Strengths aligned with their personal values, that motivated them to pursue joyful activities in everyday life, and in turn help them recognise personal strengths in a way that consolidates who they are and help them understand why they love doing the things they do.
Fast forward to 2025, after running many interview studies and workshops with autistic young people, their parents and carers, and professionals to explore and appreciate Character Strengths in autism, I had a new question in mind. How can we bring autistic young people together to creatively think about what Character Strengths use looks like visually, across different people’s lives? In other words, interview studies conducted one to one often restricts us to a reality constructed through spoken language. Is there a way that we can move beyond spoken language and see what the inner worlds of strengths use look like through the eyes of different autistic young people? We started working straightaway with our wonderful autistic Young People and Parent/Carer Advisory Group members, to explore how we can draw on creative research methodology to help us co-produce research that can bring autistic young people together to visually explore Character Strengths use in everyday life.
We landed on Zineography for several reasons. Zines are easy to make do-it-yourself booklets that allow the author to tell a story that is personally meaningful. Zines act as networks of connection to bring people together to challenge mainstream perspectives that overlook the lives of minoritised groups. Zines are fun, creative, and a visual representation of self. We co-produced two research questions and workshop activities with our autistic young people advisory group members: 1) How do autistic young people perceive how autistic strengths are portrayed in media through popular TV and film reorientations? 2) How do autistic young people perceive their personal Character Strengths use in everyday life through Zine creation?
With funding secured from the Public and Community Engagement with Research (PCER) at University of Oxford, we began on a journey of working with 18 autistic young people aged 12-21 years old since January 2026 to answer both questions. By using Zineography as a bridge between research and lived experience, we worked with autistic young people in small groups to dive into each of their personal stories of how they use their strengths to help them build sense of personal identity, find meaning in everyday objects and activities, and navigate environments that support them to thrive.
The key message from our autistic young people was simple: as human beings, we all need to find the right environment that accepts our honest and authentic selves to thrive. Meaningful connections can be built with people, objects, interests, and activities, each bringing us a sense of comfort and joy. Character Strengths are a way to understand who you are, express what matters to you, and do what brings you joy in everyday life! As a research team, we were humbled by the honesty, authenticity, and creativity that autistic young people showed throughout their participation. It has been a privilege for us to work alongside young people to truly bring their voices into the spotlight!
Looking back to 2023 when questions about “strengths” were often met with blank stares from autistic young people, to 2026 when we are hosting a Zine exhibition at the North Wall Gallery (https://www.thenorthwall.com/whats-on/exploring-strengths-in-autism/) in Oxford exhibition autistic young people’s creations expressing Character Strengths in everyday life, it’s safe to say that we’ve come a long way already.
We are still just at the beginning of our research journey.
“He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.” – Nietzsche
One thing is clear. Helping autistic young people find their own strengths in everyday life relies on all of us to scaffold the right environment that offers them opportunities to thrive and flourish in their own ways, and starting with Character Strengths gives us all something concrete to focus our attention on. We can all make a meaningful difference. Why not pick a Character Strength and create a Zine to start your personal strengths exploration journey today?
Links to my profile and research: https://www.psych.ox.ac.uk/team/jiedi-lei
