TABLE 2.

Overview of autistic adolescents’ involvement across different research phases.

Phase 1	Phase 2	Phase 3	Phase 4	Phase 5	Phase 6
Advisory research piloting	Recruitment	Participant-driven data collection	Participant-driven coding	Advisory group event preparation	Community event: open sleep day
Advisory Group (N = 6) Work included – Discussion of study objectives – Research design, procedures and tools – Establishing potential practices and audience for community engagement upon completion – Identifying themes for photo taking tasks – Piloting photo taking and adding set of verbal, non-verbal tasks to make interview more inclusive (visuals, objects)	Recruitment stage directly through charities, social media and local community support centers included – Obtaining informed consent from adolescents and their parents. – Training on ethics of photography.	Each adolescent was asked to take 10–15 photos and to keep notes or drawings for 1 week of: (1) The place they sleep and its surroundings. (2) Activities or objects that are related to their sleep habits. (3) Activities, objects, or people that show situations that are related to daytime and nighttime activities that help them to fall or stay asleep. (4) Objects, people, or drawings that show or are related to the bedtime thoughts and activities that help them to fall asleep. (5) Objects, drawings or actions that show how they feel or think about their sleep.	Individual interview meeting included: – Discussion of narrative using Showed protocol (Pavlopoulou and Dimitriou, 2020) to allow each participant to strengthen the message of their photos. What do you See happening here? Describe what the eye sees? What is actually Happening here? (What is the story behind this photo?) How does this relate to Our lives? Why does the problem/strength exist? How could this photo Educate others about the lives of young people? What can we Do about it? (What can researchers, parents, teachers and health professionals do in order to improve your life in the community?) – Codifying photos and personal narratives	– Lay down and select themes for exhibition based on emerging themes. Advisory group was asked to – Create ppt slides and collages with photos and post-it notes which capture key thematics for exhibition in Phase 6 based on data collected in Phase 5. – Generate two creative boards to identify stakeholders’ needs and preferred action points as part of an activity which will take part in Phase 6.	Community exhibition to share study results and identify post study action. Activities – Discussion panels with parents, 3rd sectors, school staff, developmental psychologists autistic adolescents and adults. – Two creative science workshops with participation of students from a local school. – A critical workshop for the researcher to discuss themes with community partners, participants’ families and other researchers. – Creative boards eliciting stakeholders’ needs and action points.