Combating stigma in autism research through centering autistic voices: a co-interview guide for qualitative 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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Kaplan-Kahn, E. A. & Caplan, R. (2023). Combating stigma in autism research through centering autistic voices: a co-interview guide for qualitative research. Frontiers in Psychiatry, 14, 1248247-1248247. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2023.1248247

Publication date: 15 Aug 2023 Added to AutiHub: 5 Jul 2026 Type: Article Article language: English
Publisher source (DOI) Full text OpenAlex source

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Authors

Publication authors
2
Publication authors identified as autistic
1 / 2 (50.0%)
  1. Elizabeth A. Kaplan-Kahn
  2. Reid Caplan *

Abstract

As autism has gained increased attention in the past few decades, autistic advocates have adopted the phrase "Nothing about us without us," illustrating the idea that autistic people should be centered in all conversations regarding autism. However, in a large portion of autism research, autistic people are still not meaningfully engaged throughout the research process, leading to continued stigma in research through biased methods. Thus, stigma about autism influences not only the content of autism research, but the ways in which neurotypical people conduct research alongside (or without) autistic people, ultimately resulting in less valid conclusions or research that actively harms the autistic community. One way to address this stigma is through involving autistic individuals as equal partners in the research process, such as by including autistic co-interviewers in qualitative studies of autistic people. In this perspectives piece, we will highlight the benefits of participatory research practices within qualitative research. Furthermore, we will outline methods for conducting co-interviews with autistic research partners and share insights from our experiences implementing this practice. We hope this piece provides researchers the practical resources and inspiration to continue working toward decreasing the stigma surrounding autism in research spaces.

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 13:59.

Cited references
29
With a DOI
24
Without a DOI, from raw bibliography text
4
13 / 29 (44.8%) cited references include at least one author identified as autistic.
References with data to complete
1 / 29 (3.4%)
References with detected author names
29 / 29 (100.0%)
Without detected author names
0
Without a structured title
1
Without a stable identifier
4
References with raw author names still to review
0
References with external metadata lookup issues
0
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
122
From DOI or external metadata
122
From validated raw bibliography text
0
Raw names already validated
0
Raw names still to review
0
73 / 122 (59.8%) names are linked to an author already present in AutiHub. 49 / 122 (40.2%) names are not yet linked.
Names linked to a person identified as autistic
36 / 122 (29.5%)
Calculated across all author names detected in the cited bibliography. Among names linked to an author already present in AutiHub: 36 / 73 (49.3%). Distinct people identified as autistic: 27 / 108 (25.0%).
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