Abstract

Critical to strengthening educational policy, research and practices is meaningful engagement through co-produced research that seeks the perspectives of historically marginalised groups (e.g., autistic and autism communities ). Co-production ensures autistic voices are engaged as experts, valuing their depth of experiential knowledge, relevance, practicality, and experience to the research team that maximises research success, relevance, and knowledge translation. Co-produced educational research with and for the autism community increases the likelihood of success in schools for autistic learners.

This paper reflects on the experiences of one research team in developing a co-produced research project commissioned by the Autism CRC that investigated barriers and enablers to autistic learners’ success in Australian schools. This project involved conceptualisation, consultation, collaboration, and co-production of educational research with the autistic and autism community.

The project involved co-production with seven autistic consultants, five autism community partners and two autistic research assistants across the life of the project. Central to the project was ensuring that all research elements were informed by the autistic and autism communities with their contributions not just being acknowledged but deeply valued and appreciated, as they participated from conception to research outputs. Co-produced reflections will consider key themes related to co-production, collaboration, communication, and authenticity, discussing lessons learned and providing recommendations for ensuring the quality and authenticity of future co-produced autism educational research.

Citation

Saggers, B., McKeown, G., Carrington, S., & Mavropoulou, S. (2025). Inclusive research: Reflections on co-producing autism educational research. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities 22, 4:e70026. https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.70026.