Toward Empathetic Autism Research: Developing an Autism-Specific Research Passport.

Autistic adults sometimes report negative experiences of research participation. People have developed passports or toolkits in other areas where community members report dissatisfaction (e.g., health care, criminal justice). We created a Research Passport that autism researchers and autistic adults could use to support the inclusion of autistic adults as research participants. We designed and developed the Research Passport via an iterative design process. First, we gathered ideas for a Research Passport via focus groups with autistic adults without an intellectual disability (ID) (n = 9) and autism researchers (n = 6; one of whom was autistic). We found that the Research Passport (1) was a useful idea, but not a panacea for all issues in autism research, (2) needed to be universal and flexible, and (3) could have a broad remit (e.g., to record scores on commonly used standardized tasks that could, with permission, be shared with different researchers). Next, we conducted a preliminary evaluation of a prototype Research Passport via usability testing in three ongoing research projects. Nine autistic participants without an ID provided feedback on the Research Passport (via a survey), as did three nonautistic researchers (via interviews). We found that the Research Passport (1) promoted positive participant-researcher relationships, (2) provided a structure and framework to support existing practices, and (3) needed to be adapted slightly to facilitate usability and manage expectations. Overall, the Research Passport was useful in promoting empathetic autism research. Further design and development of the Research Passport are warranted.

Lay summary: Why was this research developed?: Autistic adults taking part in research do not always have good experiences. An autistic member on our team thought that a Research Passport could help improve people's experiences. This idea was inspired by "passports" or "toolkits" that autistic people can use when visiting professionals such as doctors (so the doctor knows about the person and how to support them).What does the Research Passport do?: The Research Passport lets autistic people tell researchers about themselves before taking part in a research study. Autistic people can decide how much, or how little, they tell the researcher. Autistic and/or nonautistic researchers can use the Research Passport to try and make sure that their autistic participants have good experiences when taking part in research.How did the researchers evaluate the Research Passport?: First, nine autistic adults (who did not have an intellectual disability) and six autism researchers took part in group discussions. We asked what they thought about our Research Passport idea and what it should include. We made a Research Passport mock-up based on these discussions. Nine autistic participants who did not have an intellectual disability used the mock-up in one of three university research projects. Autistic participants completed a survey to tell us good and not-so-good things about the Research Passport. Also, we interviewed three researchers about using the Research Passport (asking what they liked and what could have been better).What were the findings?: Autistic adults and researchers involved in designing the Research Passport thought the Research Passport (1) could be useful but could not solve all problems in autism research, (2) needed to be suitable for many different people, and (3) could have many different benefits (e.g., collecting participants' scores on tests that researchers use a lot, so participants do not have to keep doing the same tests each time they take part in a new research study).Autistic adults and researchers used the Research Passport in ongoing studies and told us that it (1) led to good relationships between participants and researchers, (2) helped researchers make sure that the way they did their research was acceptable, and (3) was useful. However, participants need to be told what the Research Passport can/cannot help them with.What were the weaknesses of this project?: This study involved a small group of autistic adults and researchers, and the results may not be the same with autistic adults and researchers who have different needs. Also, participants said the Research Passport was not very easy to complete, and a bit long. We need to change the Research Passport so that a wider range of autistic people (like those with intellectual disability) can use it.What are the next steps?: The Research Passport needs to be professionally designed so it is easier to be used by a wider range of autistic people. A bigger evaluation of the Research Passport could allow us to test it with more participants and in more research studies.How will this work help autistic adults now or in the future?: Using the Research Passport could, with some changes and alongside other supports, improve the experience of autistic adults taking part in research.