ABSTRACT
A review of scholarly research on technology development for autistic users
reveals that autistic persons either are not involved in the design process or, more
commonly, are included as part of an object-centered design process rather
than a user-centered one. An analysis of the polarizing themes of competence/
incompetence and dependence/independence present in this research literature
supports that some researchers and developers assume that autistic persons are not
able to fully participate in a user-centered design process. By approaching my
analysis with a “presumption of competence” of autistic persons (Biklen, 2005),
however, I found that some of the research literature also includes evidence
that autistic users are able to innovate solutions for problems with and express
opinions about new technologies. User research techniques and tools applicable
to user experience research with autistic persons can also be found in the methods
and discussion sections of some research articles. Such evidence supports the
plausibility of applying a user-centered design process to the development of
assistive technologies for autistic users. However, technical communicators who
conduct user research will need to alleviate any potential inhibitions to working
with autistic people when advocating for a user-centered design process with
technology developers.
