An Inclusive Methodology for Research with Multiply Neurodivergent Participants

This chapter illustrates how an adapted version of Interpretive Interactionism, a qualitative methodology for insider researchers, can facilitate a neurodiversity-affirming interview study with multiply neurodivergent research participants. Influences from Access Intimacy, Crip Theory, and participatory autism research are synthetised to create a ‘cripped interactionism’. The chapter outlines, with concrete examples, how this methodology transformed research access from an act of logistics to a relational act, how it mitigated power dynamics and resisted epistemic injustice, and how it led to an ongoing dialogue with participants. Anticipating access needs as much as possible and being proactive in offering adaptations is central, rather than waiting for participants to request accommodations. Interviews are ‘cripped’ to become dialogues, reflecting a deep and genuine reciprocity rather than a mechanical extraction of community knowledge. ‘Found poetry’ alongside the lay summary is used to make the research findings accessible to readers with a range of communication preferences and engage the heart and as well as the mind.