Developing an approach to involving children with autistic spectrum disorders in a social care research project

A project researching user-views on the outcomes of social care and support services for disabled children and their families presented new challenges to a research team. While the team had experience of working with other groups of disabled children, this project was the first in which the team sought to work directly with children with autistic spectrum disorders. This paper reports the process by which the research design and methods used were developed and tailored to the needs and abilities of these children. The key lesson learnt was the value of crossing disciplines, research areas and professional boundaries when trying to identify ways of working with a 'hard to reach group'.