Abstract

This chapter presents a methodology for doing research inclusively with autistic people with profound learning disabilities. The purpose of the methodology is to learn about the views and experiences of this group within the context of their everyday lives. The methodology involves in-depth participatory work, a guiding phenomenological framework, Ashworth’s Lifeworld Fractions (2016), and a circular process of fieldwork and analysis. It is argued that this represents an inclusive process as it promotes dialogue, being-with participants, and an approach where participants’ experiences and circumstances guide a study’s methods, focus and theoretical perspectives. Described are the methodology’s phenomenological and inclusive underpinnings, as well as an example of the methodology in practice as drawn from a project that sought the experiences of an autistic adult with profound learning disabilities. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the ways in which the methodology promotes involvement in research of autistic people with profound learning disabilities, as well as its limitations.