With my survey now ready, I have been focusing on getting it in front of the right people and gathering enough responses from autistic adults to make the primary research useful. Rather than relying on one method of recruitment, I have tried to distribute the survey through a mixture of local organisations, social media and direct contact with professionals.

I have emailed a number of organisations on the Isle of Wight that work with autistic adults, neurodivergent people or adults with disabilities, asking whether they would be willing to share my survey with people within their communities. These include:

• AIM, Newport — an autism and ADHD-led support organisation.
• National Autistic Society, Isle of Wight — supporting autistic people and their families locally.
• The Phoenix Project, Ryde — providing day services and support for people with autism and other disabilities.
• Ryde House Group — providing support services and community outreach for people with disabilities.
• People Matter IW, Newport — supporting people through involvement groups and community activities.
• John’s Club, Isle of Wight — a social and recreational charity working with adults with disabilities.

Alongside contacting organisations directly, I have also created an Instagram page specifically for the research survey. Creating a digital link. This gives me another way of circulating the survey beyond organisations and reaching people directly through social media. It also creates something that can easily be shared between individuals and within relevant online communities.

I have also taken a more direct approach locally by visiting psychology practices and dropping in information about the research and survey. Psychologists may have contact with autistic adults who fit the participant criteria, so this provides another potential route for reaching people who may otherwise never come across the survey online.

Using several different recruitment routes has been important because the audience for this research is relatively specific. This process has also made me think more carefully about where autistic adults can actually be reached, rather than assuming that simply publishing a survey online will generate meaningful participation. The next stage will be to monitor the responses and begin identifying recurring experiences, barriers and themes that can inform the direction of the project.