The experiences and views of autistic children participating in multimodal view-seeking research

Abstract

Autistic children face significant barriers to having their views listened to in research. Inaccessible research encounters and inflexible communication strategies on the part of a research team can prevent opportunities for children to engage meaningfully in the research. Researchers must strive to offer opportunities for meaningful self-expression, and improve the way they seek autistic children’s points of view. This article explores ways to engage with, and listen to, the views of autistic children in school-based research contexts. Twelve autistic children took part in view-seeking research about their school and playground environment, and reflected on their experience of taking part in the research. The children contributed their ideas through walking tours, photography, LEGO® models, and interviews with the researcher and their peers. The multimodal qualitative data were analysed iteratively and thematically, with findings highlighting issues of perceptions of audience, creativity, control and enjoyment. The different research activities stimulated diverse modes of expression and generated different kinds of insights. Implications are considered for how researchers can seek to creatively co-develop engagement and opportunities for self-expression with children who participate in research. This research emphasizes the importance of creating accessible and meaningful opportunities to engage with and foreground autistic children’s perspectives.