Research and the Testable Autistic

A fundamental issue in autism research is that again and again we are testing only a narrow band of "testable autistics." 

Essentially past and current research on Autism is oversampling the same ~30% of autistics, the testable autistics. Then we assume the results apply to all, when they do no. 

I was in a research stakeholder meeting last week where another autistic talked about the variety of different research studies she had participated in over the years. 

I was thinking of how many autism research studies where I've been a participant - it was ZERO, literally!! It was not that I did not want to, I was always in the exclusion criteria zone even in autism research. 

Growing up, I used to hear about what autistics are supposed to be thinking/doing, all based on the hundreds of studies that had already been done. And the thought was -  the results don't reflect me. Do I have the wrong dx?

We badly need to RETHINK RESEARCH METHODOLOGY along with new NEW TECHNOLOGY , so that we can expand this ZONE OF TESTABLE AUTISTICS so it's more representative of even those with high support needs like me. 

We can expand the range of testable autistics only if we use methods that don’t need fluent oral communication or fluent motor manipulation or expect a person to sit absolutely still. 

We need every neurodiverse/neurotypical mind thinking about this!!

So, what kind of methods can we use to extend the range of testable autistics.

We need to find answers and solutions for all autistics. THIS IS URGENT.