STARTS – Striving to Transform Autism Research Together-Scotland – is a new network organised by Dr Eilidh Cage, Dr Monique Botha (both University of Stirling) and Dr Catherine Crompton (University of Edinburgh). The network is funded by the Royal Society of Edinburgh for two years. The network aims to bring together autistic people and autism researchers in Scotland. We believe that one way to improve autism research is to use participatory research – involving people who are being researched in the research process as equal partners. STARTS therefore aims to create a new network where autism researchers (both autistic and non-autistic!) can do research with autistic people in Scotland on topics that are important to them.

You can find out more about STARTS on the new website: https://startsnetwork.co.uk/about or by following STARTS Network on Twitter: https://twitter.com/STARTSNetwork

We are currently looking for autistic co-researchers to get involved with STARTS. We will be running an event on March 8th at 4pm where you can find out more about what being a co-researcher means, and ask any questions. You can register to attend the event here. The event will be online via Zoom, hosted by Dr Eilidh Cage but the whole STARTS team will be there to say hello. We will have a British Sign Language interpreter and the event will be recorded and shared afterwards. 

If you have any questions about STARTS, you can contact the team at startsnetwork@stir.ac.uk