Inclusion and rigor in qualitative autism research: A response to Van Schalkwyk and Dewinter (2020)

In their recent editorial in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders (JADD), Van Schalkwyk and Dewinter (2020) rightly outline the value of qualitative research in better understanding the lived experiences of autistic people and their families and amplifying the voices of the real experts on autism. This is crucially important. Autism research has traditionally been conducted on, about, or for autistic people and their families, without the involvement of those with insider expertise (Pellicano et al. 2014). Encouragingly—and largely as a result of community advocacy and the growing number of autistic scholars—this has started to change. Autistic people and their families are beginning to play key roles in research priority setting (e.g. Australian Autism Research Council 2019; Autistica 2016; Frazier et al. 2018; Pellicano et al. 2014), and in the design and conduct of research (e.g. Nicolaidis et al. 2019). Qualitative research can complement such initiatives, providing an opportunity for the voices of autistic people and their families to be heard—in depth and in their own words—allowing unique insights into their experiences.