Designing a participatory research project on autism and the built work environment

Purpose Finding and keeping a job is challenging for people on the autism spectrum, yet how different spatial aspects contribute to these challenges is rarely considered. Gaining insight into the role of the built work environment in how autistic people experience and manage their working conditions requires participatory research, ensuring that their voices shape what is researched and how. This paper aims to reflect on the process of designing and setting up a participatory research project on autism and the built work environment. Design/methodology/approach To reflect on our participatory approach, we document and iteratively review input and our experiences during formal and informal engagements with the autism community i.e. autistic people, their allies and autism researchers. Findings Besides describing the breadth and depth of involving the autism community (i.e. who was involved, how and when in the research process), we reflect on the implications of our participatory approach for the research design, including the selection of work(place) contexts, the refinement of the participant recruitment strategy, the choice and refinement of data collection methods and the navigation of ethical challenges related to the (non)disclosure of autism at work. Practicing participatory research significantly depends on the work context and autistic individuals, with advice from one autistic group not necessarily applying to another. Originality/value By considering autistic people’s voices as central, we offer a novel approach for researching autism and the built work environment. Sharing our experiences can inform future studies about strategies and potential challenges of participatory research on neurodiversity and inclusive workplaces more broadly.