« Nous avons besoin d'une recherche génétique centrée sur la communauté et fortement éthique » : une étude qualitative des attitudes de la communauté envers la génétique de l'autisme

Titre original en anglais : “We Need Community-Centred, Strongly Ethical Genetic Research”: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Attitudes Toward Autism Genetics

Pugsley, K., Siryj, N., Alvares, G. A., Baxter, E., Bellgrove, M. A., Chau, T., Cooper, L., Curd, H., Douglas, S., Furley, K., Gordon, R. L., Guastella, A. J., Hawi, Z., Karo, A., Kerestes, R., King, K., Poulsen, R., Rabba, A. S., Rose, M.,..., & Johnson, B. (2026). “We Need Community-Centred, Strongly Ethical Genetic Research”: A Qualitative Investigation of Community Attitudes Toward Autism Genetics. Autism in Adulthood. https://doi.org/10.1177/25739581251370568

Date de publication: 02/02/2026 Ajout dans AutiHub: 05/07/2026 Type: Article Langue de l’article: Anglais

Cette publication est intégrée dans AutiHub via :

Auteurs

Auteur·ices des publications
23
Auteur·ices de la publication identifié·es comme autistes
1 / 23 (4,3 %)

Résumé

Contexte : La génétique de l'autisme a historiquement attiré une proportion substantielle des financements de la recherche sur l'autisme à l'échelle internationale. Cependant, plus récemment, plusieurs controverses centrées sur la conduite éthique et le manque de consultation de la communauté ont émergé. Cela a déclenché des protestations menées par des personnes Autistes en faveur de l'inclusion fonctionnelle et significative des voix Autistes dans la conception de la recherche. Méthodes : Nous avons collaboré avec des personnes Autistes, leurs alliés et d'autres parties prenantes concernées par les résultats pour les personnes Autistes afin de cocréer une étude qualitative examinant les perceptions des individus concernant la génétique de l'autisme. Nous avons interrogé 33 personnes Autistes australiennes, leurs familles et soutiens, ainsi que des professionnels de l'autisme, dans le cadre d'une série d'entretiens semi-structurés coconçus (n = 20), de groupes de discussion (n = 2 groupes) et d'enquêtes qualitatives (n = 7). Les personnes interrogées étaient majoritairement des femmes (79 %), blanches (67 %), détenaient des qualifications de troisième cycle (c.-à-d. master, doctorat) (36 %) et avaient reçu leur diagnostic d'autisme ou s'étaient autodiagnostiquées à l'âge adulte (le cas échéant, 93 %). De nombreuses personnes interrogées occupaient plusieurs rôles croisés au sein des communautés Autiste et de l'autisme. Nous avons transcrit leurs données textuellement et les avons analysées dans le cadre d'un réalisme critique à l'aide d'une analyse thématique réflexive. Résultats : Les membres de la communauté ont fait part de préoccupations concernant le potentiel eugénique de la recherche en génétique et la manière dont elle perpétue des attitudes négatives à l'égard de l'autisme et des personnes Autistes. Les personnes interrogées ressentaient un sentiment de désillusion et de méfiance envers le domaine, découlant de l'échec persistant des chercheurs sur l'autisme à intégrer les besoins de la communauté dans leurs objectifs. Certaines estimaient que, bien que les connaissances en génétique puissent présenter des bénéfices pour la santé de la communauté Autiste, ceux-ci ne pourraient être obtenus que par l'instauration de la confiance et une meilleure prise en compte des voix Autistes dans cette recherche. Conclusion : Les résultats mettent en évidence les diverses perspectives de la communauté sur la recherche en génétique de l'autisme en Australie, montrant comment les études génétiques sont perçues comme ignorant les souhaits, les besoins et les priorités des personnes Autistes et de leurs soutiens. Ces éclairages offrent une occasion unique de réévaluer la trajectoire future de la recherche en génétique de l'autisme, avec un fort appel à l'action des participants pour intégrer les voix Autistes de manière fonctionnellement significative à tous les niveaux et à toutes les étapes de la production des connaissances.

Background: Autism genetics has historically attracted a substantial proportion of autism research funding internationally. However, more recently, several controversies centered on ethical conduct and lack of community consultation have emerged. This has triggered Autistic-led protests for the functional and meaningful inclusion of Autistic voices in the research design. Methods: We collaborated with Autistic people, their allies, and other stakeholders concerned with Autistic outcomes to cocreate a qualitative study investigating individuals’ perceptions of autism genetics. We spoke to 33 Australian Autistic people, their families and supporters, and autism professionals in a series of codesigned semi-structured interviews ( n = 20), focus groups ( n = 2 groups), and qualitative surveys ( n = 7). Interviewees were predominantly women (79%), White (67%), held postgraduate qualifications (i.e., master’s, doctorate) (36%), and received their autism diagnosis or self-diagnosed in adulthood (where applicable, 93%). Many interviewees held multiple intersecting roles across the Autistic and autism communities. We transcribed their data verbatim and analyzed these within a critical realist framework using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Community members reported concerns about the eugenic potential of genetics research and how it perpetuates negative attitudes about autism and Autistic people. Interviewees felt a sense of disillusionment and distrust toward the field stemming from persistent failure of autism researchers to integrate community needs within its aims. Some believed that while genetics knowledge could hold health benefits for the Autistic community, these could only be achieved through trust-building and improved engagement of Autistic voices in this research. Conclusion: Findings highlight the diverse community perspectives on autism genetics research within Australia, capturing how genetic studies are perceived to ignore the wants, needs, and priorities of Autistic people and their supporters. These insights offer a unique opportunity to reevaluate the trajectory of autism genetics research into the future, with a strong call to action from participants to embed Autistic voices in a functionally meaningful way at all levels and stages of knowledge generation.

Bibliographie citée par cette référence

Les références citées sont importées depuis des sources externes de métadonnées lorsqu’elles sont disponibles. La liste peut être partielle.

Vue d’ensemble de l’inclusion dans la bibliographie

Ces indicateurs décrivent la bibliographie citée importée pour cette publication. Les métriques de références citées utilisent le total des références citées comme dénominateur. Les métriques d’auteurices cité·es indiquent si elles utilisent toutes les occurrences d’auteurices cité·es ou seulement les occurrences rattachées à des auteurices déjà intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub. Ils utilisent les rattachements mis en cache entre les auteurices cité·es et les auteurices intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub. Dernier calcul : 16/08/2026 11:30.

Références citées
76
Nombre total de références citées intégrées pour cette publication.
Références citées avec un·e auteur·ice identifié·e comme autiste
15 / 76 (19,7 %)
Occurrences d’auteur·ices cité·es identifié·es comme autistes
32 / 576 (5,6 %)
Parmi les occurrences rattachées à des auteurices intégré·es à la base de données AutiHub : 32 / 129 (24,8 %). Auteurices cité·es distinct·es identifié·es comme autistes : 21 / 536 (3,9 %).
Occurrences citées rattachées à la base AutiHub
129 / 576 (22,4 %)
Auteurices cité·es distinct·es rattaché·es : 98 / 536 (18,3 %)
Occurrences rattachées, non identifiées comme autistes
97 / 129 (75,2 %)
Parmi les seules occurrences rattachées. Sur l’ensemble des occurrences d’auteurices cité·es : 97 / 576 (16,8 %). Auteurices cité·es distinct·es rattaché·es, non identifié·es comme autistes : 77 / 98 (78,6 %).
2 entrées de bibliographie citée n’ont pas pu être entièrement enrichies à partir des métadonnées DOI.
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