Published on 12, July, 2020
Suppose you have the funding and technical skills to carry out autism research (e.g., questionnaires, qualitative interviews, MRI, EEG, behavioural experiments, virtual reality, etc). What kind of research question would you like to ask? What autism question do you think is still not well known, and what would be your solution to solving it, or extend current knowledge?
I would do research into the patterns of autism and its effects (direct or indirect) within families, i.e. through the generations and within the wider family once one family member is identified. This would be with a view to providing more effective information and support that doesn't stop with the individual.
i would also do research into the older generations of autistic people - what happened, what helped, what harmed etc - in order to build information and support for people with a very late diagnosis who have previously been overlooked and unsupported.
By the way, have you seen this? https://research.ncl.ac.uk/adultautismspectrum/
Newcastle University has an Adult Autism Spectrum Cohort to try to understand adults with autism and those that were diagnosed late in life.
Thanks Qwerty. Just had a look and at the moment they seem to be only seeking information from carers for autistic adults - a position I'm in but we lack a formal diagnosis due to total non engagement with services. I'll revisit this site in future though.
It says the research programme is about the life experiences of *adults on the autism spectrum* and their relatives/carers. When I clicked on the sign-up, there were three choices: "I am an adult on the autism spectrum and I would like to enter information about myself", "I am a relative of an adult on the autism spectrum and I would like to enter information about myself", "I am the relative/career of an adult on the autism spectrum". It seems like the first one is relevant.