Autism Scientists' Reflections on the Opportunities and Challenges of Public Engagement: A Qualitative Analysis.
Gregory Hollin, Warren Pearce
PMID 30357647WHAT IT FOUND
Autism researchers describe public engagement as difficult because autistic individuals hold fundamentally conflicting views on autism.
They also report that socio-communicative traits make compromise rare. However, these same traits are valued for analytical rigor in research.
Key findings
01Researchers perceive engagement as difficult due to fundamental disagreements within the autistic community, such as between those who identify with neurodiversity and those who wish for a cure.
02Researchers attribute some communication breakdowns to autistic socio-communicative impairments, specifically the difficulty in taking another's perspective or accepting divergent views.
03Despite these challenges, researchers value autistic individuals as partners, noting that traits like singlemindedness and refusal to compromise can enhance analytical rigor in laboratory settings.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study relies on self-reported experiences from a small sample of 20 UK-based academics, which may not represent the views of researchers in other countries or clinical practitioners. Interview data are not naturally occurring and may not accurately reflect actual engagement events or the researchers' true thoughts. There is a possibility of selection bias, as 24 other researchers declined or did not respond to the interview request. The findings reflect the researchers' perceptions of autistic individuals, which may be influenced by their own biases and do not include the direct voices of autistic people.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these findings as evidence that autistic individuals are incapable of collaboration or that their views are inherently contradictory. The study reports only the perceptions of a small group of researchers, which may reflect their own challenges in navigating diverse stakeholder views rather than deficits in the autistic community.