A new article in Autism and Adulthood presents guidelines for designing consent materials and procedures for autistic adults and people with intellectual disability and asserts that participatory methods are vital to the success of ongoing accessibility initiatives.
Kelly Beck, PhD, from the University of Pittsburgh, and coauthors, including the Working to Increase Inclusivity in Research Ethics (WIRE) Consortium, describe lessons learned across major U.S. research institutions that improved consent materials and procedures by incorporating accommodations for processing and communication differences common in autism and intellectual disability.
“Our guidelines emphasize the importance of multiple modes to deliver content, such as auditory and visual, in order to design materials that are accessible to people with a wide range of abilities, communication needs, and experiences,” stated the authors.
“As the authors describe, consent procedures are often lengthy and may be inaccessible for many people. As a member of a Human Research Ethics Committee, I recognise the significant value of this research and the guidelines the authors present. These guidelines will be exceptionally helpful for researchers in improving the accessibility and respectfulness of their work with autistic people and people with intellectual disability, and support researchers in conducting more ethically sound research,” says Executive Editor of Autism in Adulthood, Rebecca Flower, PhD, La Trobe University.
