Introducing the INSAR Community Collaborator Request (ICCR)

As a way to encourage collaboration between autism researchers and the communities they hope to serve, the INSAR Autistic Researchers Committee (ARC) has developed a new initiative to connect autism researchers with "community collaborators" (i.e., autistic people and their family members/caregivers) who are interested in partnering with autism researchers in designing, conducting, and disseminating research studies relevant to autism.

The INSAR Community Collaborator Request (ICCR) is a new type of category to post on the INSAR Career Center, in which autism researchers can post a classified ad looking for autistic people or other autism stakeholders (e.g., family members of autistic people) to collaborate or consult on a research study. The ICCR process is designed to help form working relationships between autism researchers and the stakeholders who stand to benefit from the research being conducted. There are several existing partnerships that have been particularly successful in their research endeavors. By incorporating ICCRs into the Career Center, INSAR hopes to make it easier for both autism researchers and autism stakeholders to engage in participatory autism research.

Click here to view all currently active community collaborator requests in the INSAR Career Center.

How does the ICCR work?

Any current INSAR member can post a collaborator request on the Career Center page by using the "Submit an Opening” and selecting the "Community Collaborator" option as the category of the posting.

See HERE for more detailed instructions on creating a request.

Researchers are able to request community collaborators at any stage of the research project from question generation to result dissemination, and we welcome requests from researchers of all career stages and areas of autism research.

Please note that the ICCR is NOT for recruiting research study participants. ICCR posts are meant to recruit autistic people or other stakeholders for one or more of the following research activities:

1. Identifying the research question(s)
2. Conducting a literature review
3. Setting research objectives and hypotheses
4. Designing study and making methodological decisions
5. Data collection
6. Processing and analyzing data
7. Interpreting results
8. Writing up and disseminating results
   

ICCR postings may solicit collaborators who belong to one or more of the following groups:

• Individuals diagnosed with a condition on the autism spectrum (e.g., autism spectrum disorder or equivalent diagnosis)
• Individuals without a formal autism spectrum diagnosis who self-identify as being on the autism spectrum
• Family members or caregivers of individuals on the autism spectrum
• Individuals who belong to more than one of the above categories (e.g., autistic parents of autistic children)

Researchers should only request collaborators who are over the age of 18 years and are their own legal guardians. All ICCR posts must be in English. If approved, an ICCR post (including a brief project description, desired collaborator qualities, and researcher contact information) will be posted on the INSAR Career Center (open to the public).

It is the job of the stakeholder to reach out to the researcher(s) directly using the contact information provided, and once researchers/stakeholders are in contact, it is up to them to negotiate the terms of any formal or informal collaboration*. 

Stakeholders who would like to be notified of new ICCR postings can subscribe to the “Community Collaborator Request” category on the Career Center  to receive email notifications of new opportunities.

INSAR membership is not required to view ICCR posts or receive notifications of new postings. However, individuals must create a free INSAR account in order to sign up for email notifications on the Career Center.

How to get involved in the ICCR process:

For researchers: Please follow these instructions. Note that INSAR Full or Student membership is required to submit an ICCR post.

For stakeholders: View existing ICCR posts on the INSAR Career Center (no account or membership required). To stay up-to-date on available ICCR posts, consider subscribing to posts on the Career Center (requires free INSAR account).

*INSAR takes no responsibility for interactions between researchers and stakeholders and will not become involved in any negotiations or disputes between parties.

More information on participatory research can be found using the links below. 

Examples of Successful Research Partnerships

Participatory Autism Research

A starter pack for participatory autism research

Six steps to engaging in participatory autism research

Helpful Templates for Recruiting Community Partners 

AASPIRE Participatory Research Toolkit 

AASPIRE Inclusion Guidelines

Participatory and Inclusive Autism Research Practice Guides

Questions: Contact committees@autism-insar.org

For instructions on unsubscribing from Career Center posting emails, click here.