Participatory Research With Autistic Students in Higher Education: Experiences and Recommendations From Developing a Training Programme

Abstract

Participatory approaches, which seek to involve affected community members in the research process, remain uncommon within autism research despite numerous potential advantages. The current work describes the process of co-designing autism training for university staff with an advisory group of autistic students and other stakeholders. The advisory group were involved in the project from the outset, including contributing to the funding application, training design, evaluation, and research dissemination. Here, we demonstrate the feasibility of participatory research in a higher education context, detail the approach taken, and provide recommendations for researchers seeking to undertake this kind of work. It is hoped that this example will encourage the uptake of similar practices in future projects.