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Research project: Information sharing in online groups for people on the autism spectrum (posting with permission)

Suzanne

Hi,

I'm a PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield, researching autistic people's use of online groups for finding and sharing information. I am looking for autistic people who use online forums and discussion groups, and who would be interested in talking to me about their experiences of using these groups, and about what things they find helpful or unhelpful in situations where they need to access or share information.

I would like to hear from any autistic adults (aged 18 or over) who use, or have previously used, an online group or forum for people on the autism spectrum. This includes people who have used these groups just by reading what is posted there, as well as those who actively write posts on them. Participants may be either professionally diagnosed or self-identified as autistic.  

I would be very happy to talk to people entirely by email (or by online video meeting, if preferred). Participation will be completely confidential. As a thank you for your time and effort in taking part, you will receive a £30 online shopping gift card (either Amazon or Love2Shop, whichever you prefer). 

I am researching this area as information plays a very important part in everyday life, and online groups are known to be an important source of information, as well as support, for many users. Existing knowledge of people’s information needs, and how they look for, share and access information, is based overwhelmingly on research with non-autistic people, which may not reflect autistic people’s needs and experiences. I hope that my study will help to address this gap and and gain better understanding of autistic people’s information needs and use of online groups.  The research is being carried out at the University of Sheffield and has been ethically approved.

If you are interested and would like to take part, or want to find out more about it before deciding, you can use the following link to view the study information web page, which also has a contact form and consent form to sign up:

https://sites.google.com/sheffield.ac.uk/onlineinformationsharingstudy/home

Alternatively you can contact me via this form, and I will email you an information sheet that contains full details about the study, and you will be able to ask any questions you may have about it before you agree to take part.:

https://forms.gle/dN19hSYER5gjnnTu6 

Many thanks,

Suzanne

(University of Sheffield, Information School)       

Parents

  • Hi Suzanne.

    Why are the links on sites.google.com rather than sheffield.ac.uk?

    It makes it appear less legitimate/official.

  • in reply to moon

    Hi Moon,

    Thanks for your feedback - the University of Sheffield provides secure Google accounts that we are encouraged to use for online forms and pages.  At the bottom of the Google contact form there is is a "This form was created inside University of Sheffield" confirmation at the bottom. The link for the online Google site page has 'sheffield.ac.uk' included in the middle of the address. However, I totally agree that these are not easy to see. I thought about providing my University 'sheffield.ac.uk' email address directly here but was worried this might break the rules about not including individual email addresses within posts (the email address is available on the links, if anyone would prefer to just email me instead of submitting the Google forms).

    I hope that's ok.

    Best wishes,

    Suzanne

Reply
  • in reply to moon

    Hi Moon,

    Thanks for your feedback - the University of Sheffield provides secure Google accounts that we are encouraged to use for online forms and pages.  At the bottom of the Google contact form there is is a "This form was created inside University of Sheffield" confirmation at the bottom. The link for the online Google site page has 'sheffield.ac.uk' included in the middle of the address. However, I totally agree that these are not easy to see. I thought about providing my University 'sheffield.ac.uk' email address directly here but was worried this might break the rules about not including individual email addresses within posts (the email address is available on the links, if anyone would prefer to just email me instead of submitting the Google forms).

    I hope that's ok.

    Best wishes,

    Suzanne

Children