Within the NAR, we think it is important to collaborate with autistic people so that our research is done for and by our target group. We do this collaboration, or co-creation, in different ways.
Our team
Several people with an autism diagnosis work on the NAR team. Each employee is free to share this diagnosis or not. Because of our neurodiverse team, someone with autism is always present at every team meeting. This provides a very important perspective on our daily work.
Panels
NAR panel
We also collaborate with our target audience by submitting our work to our NAR panel. This was set up in 2016 and consists of a diverse team of autistic people who have been thinking with us for several years. The panel provides us with feedback and tips: what could be improved, what goes well and what do we overlook? With the help of the panel, we can be sure that our research contributes to important issues.
Panels per project
Besides the general NAR panels, we also organise panels for individual projects. Here, our panel members think with us about questionnaires, personal statements and other parts of our research. This helps us enormously in keeping our projects valuable and informative.
Research Agenda
In 2018, we asked our participants in our annual questionnaire what our research should focus on. This was an open-ended question, which our participants were allowed to answer in their own words. As many as 923 people from three participant groups took advantage of this opportunity: 695 adults with autism, 166 parents and 62 legal representatives. Based on their answers, the research themes were determined. We are still using these outcomes for our own research.
Other input
We also try to stay in contact with our target group as much as possible. We do this, for example, at our conferences and by visiting autism organizations throughout the country. Every insight we gain from these visits is incredibly valuable!