Inclusive Research: Reflections on Co‐Producing Autism Educational Research

This publication is included in the Autistic Autism Scholarship Project. one author of this publication is identified as autistic in the project.

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Saggers, B., Wiltshire, G. E., Carrington, S., & Mavropoulou, S. (2025). Inclusive Research: Reflections on Co‐Producing Autism Educational Research. Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities, 22(4). https://doi.org/10.1111/jppi.70026

Publication date: 20 Nov 2025 Added to AutiHub: 22 Sep 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
4
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 4 (25.0%)
  1. Beth Saggers
  2. Gilly-Elle Wiltshire *
  3. Suzanne Carrington
  4. Sofia Mavropoulou

Abstract

ABSTRACT Critical to strengthening educational policy, research, and practice is meaningful engagement through co‐produced research that seeks autistic and autism community perspectives. 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 autistic 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 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.

Bibliography cited by this reference

Cited references are imported from external metadata sources when they are available. The list may be partial.

Cited bibliography overview

These indicators describe the bibliography cited by this publication. An author name is counted each time it appears in one cited reference, so the same person can be counted more than once. Names not yet linked to an author already present in AutiHub are treated as unknown, not as non-autistic. Last computed: 2 Oct 2026 08:12.

Cited references
32
With a DOI
30
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
2
18 / 32 (56.2%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
0 / 32 (0.0%)
References with detected author names
32 / 32 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
0
Without a stable identifier
2
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
1
These indicators apply to cited references displayed on this page, after technical duplicates have been merged. A reference without a DOI can still support author statistics when a title and author names are available.
Author names detected in the cited bibliography
183
From DOI or external metadata
183
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
143 / 183 (78.1%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 40 / 183 (21.9%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
91 / 183 (49.7%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 91 / 143 (63.6%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 79 / 159 (49.7%).
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  21. Philip Mark Ferris-Day , Karen Hoare , Claire Minton , Andrea Donaldson (2024). Reflections on being an insider researcher: a study exploring the experiences of men accessing rural mental health services . Nurse Researcher, 32(3), 27-33. RCNi.
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    Crossref OpenAlex OpenCitations
  24. Øyvind Ibrahim Marøy Snipstad (2022). Concerns regarding the use of the vulnerability concept in research on people with intellectual disability . British Journal of Learning Disabilities, 50(1), 107-114. Wiley.
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  29. Jennifer Smith-Merry , Simon Darcy , Angela Dew , Bronwyn Hemsley , Christine Imms , Mary-Ann O’Donovan et al. (2025). Who Funds Published Disability Research in Australia? Journal of Disability Policy Studies, 36(1), 52-63. SAGE Publications.
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    Crossref