Empowered by design: Findings from a supportive technology research project with autistic young adults

Central to Design Your Life (DYL) is a toolkit that helps autistic young adults develop their own supportive devices. Within a seventeen-month period, fifteen participants worked on a wide variety of devices related to decision-making, nutrition, social interaction, and more. DYL aims to empower end users by (1) providing a supportive device with practical value and (2) offering an insightful and enjoyable design process with intrinsic value. This paper presents the main findings. We used data from fourteen evaluation interviews and ten follow-up interviews, conducted two weeks and three months after the design process. Interview transcripts were thematically analyzed and the outcomes were discussed in a multistakeholder meeting involving members of the autistic community. Overall, participants attributed the most value to supportive technology in the areas of management, self-confidence, and social support. Supportive technology helped several participants better explain their support needs to trusted others. Supportive technology was also described as a sense-making tool, to explore how to navigate a world that is largely shaped for and by non-autistic people. These and other findings bolster new appreciations of supportive technology by autistic young adults.