Being, Knowing and Doing: Importing Theoretical Toolboxes for Autism Studies
Bertilsdotter Rosqvist, Botha, Hens, O'Donoghue, Pearson and Stenning (2023)
Research theories and practices used within Autism research often come from outside the Autistic community. This research by Autistic researchers supports the production of new Autistic-led theories – including through the authors own autoethnographical accounts. The article is made up of three sections all forming one overall umbrella, these sections are: Being, knowing and doing. For each section the authors examine useful research methodologies, theories and concepts from elsewhere and tailor them to Autism studies. The authors call for an epistemic shift towards Neurodiverse collaboration. They ask for non-Autistic people to work with the Autistic community and merely on the Autistic community. The aim of this is to make Autism research more ethical and to question poor theory and methodology.