Note: This account only posts external research that has been approved by the NAS research team.
We are a team of UK researchers working with ambulance services and emergency departments, looking to improve emergency care for autistic children and young people. We understand how stressful unplanned emergency care can be for autistic children and young people and their families, and we want to explore what could make ambulance and emergency department care work better for them. We are designing a research study to explore the experiences of autistic children and young people, their parents/carers, and emergency clinicians, and we need your help to plan it.
Who can take part?
We are setting up a Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) group and are looking for:
- Parents of autistic children and young people who have experienced ambulance or emergency department care in the last 5 years.
- Parents must be aged 16 years and above to join the group
- Parents must live within the UK,
- Parents must be willing to attend two group meetings online via Microsoft Teams, or via telephone.
- Your autistic child must be aged 0-17 years, with a diagnosis of autism, with or without other conditions such as learning disabilities and/or ADHD for example,
If your autistic child would like to join the meetings with you, they are welcome to do so with your consent.
We are looking for 6 parents/carers to join the PPI group.
What will taking part involve?
There will be two meetings, each lasting 1 hour. They will be held in March and May 2026. In the meetings, we will talk about:
- Whether our research ideas feel important to the autistic community
- The best ways to invite people to take part in the study
- How people should share their experiences of emergency care (e.g., through surveys or interviews)
Your experience of emergency care will help us plan a research study that could make a difference to autistic children, young people and their families.
Payment
You will receive a £27.50 Amazon voucher for each 1-hour meeting. If your child also takes part, they will receive a £27.50 voucher per meeting as well (paid to you as the parent).
How to get involved
If you would like to express an interest:
- Please complete this online form: Emergency Care for Autistic Children and Young People
- or contact Greg Whitley (Paramedic Research Fellow) directly at: researchteam@emas.nhs.uk
Thank you for considering being part of this group.
