# Performance Review

1. Work on platform copy

An initial version of the platform was created for each page of the website. This was then iterated on the basis of feedback from community meet-up sessions and an autistic co-author was recruited to support the writing of the platform, and make sure it was co-created with someone with lived experience. We recruited on the basis of professional writing experience, with knowledge of AutSPACEs as a benefit and autism as a requirement. We contracted an experienced writer who has her own autism-based website, with prior involvement with AutSPACEs. She completed a draft for the platform which was then reviewed by the AutSPACEs team as well as via. a discussion facilitated during a community meet-up session. The next iteration of the text on the basis of the feedback is now underway. Positivity around AutSPACEs is evidenced from her passion to continue contributing beyond the contracted work. (2)

2. User Testing

We conducted an additional 10 user testing sessions, for a total of 22, recruited via. Autistica's Insight Group and the AutSPACEs newsletter, and tested with a diverse group including those with multiple co-occurring conditions to get a broader sense of how the platform was experienced. The user testing provided a series of valuable insights which were then prioritised into tasks on GitHub with input from community meet-up sessions. The notes were also published on GitHub using FAIR data methods and all participants had a chance to review them prior to publication. In addition to running extra sessions, the user testing generated an immense amount of enthusiasm around the project, and led to a number of user testers joining further meet-up sessions and having substantial involvement in the project. We also tested with a particularly diverse group including those with learning differences and accessibility needs such as using screen readers. This made the user testing more challenging but also gave much more insight into how the platform worked for a broad range of users. (3)

3. Supporting community and presenting AutSPACEs

Supporting the AutSPACEs community involved much more than being a point of contact - it also involved onboarding, ongoing interaction and co-working/co-creation, and careful alignment or AutSPACEs needs and personal interests and skills. Meet-up sessions were run every month and have been positively received, with multiple attendees expressing their sense of feeling welcome in the community and motivated by the project. AutSPACEs was presented multiple times including to Autistica, for a PPIE session, as part of a panel for AI UK and for NHS England. All presentations included elements of co-creation and co-presenting was also a considerable part of how it was disseminated. This was in line with the values of deeply embedded participatory research and empowerment. Autistic participants have been involved in areas from co-authoring papers, writing, presenting, strategising, and feeding back on work. Multiple participants have also been onboarded onto GitHub. Creating an environment where autistic people feel comfortable and powerful has been a major reward and motivator. We've received a lot of positive feedback - this from a recent collaborator, who has gone on to make substantial contributions to the project, is an example:

"To be a contributor to AutSPACE is to actually, truly, be yourself - and I mean that without spin or false promise, because I know we’ve all heard something along these lines from many a neurotypical person or space without real meaning behind it!...That is also powerful, because your story is uniquely you and yours" (3)

4. Complete and implement moderation strategy

The moderation strategy for AutSPACEs has been extensively co-created with two autistic community members who have been leading on this aspect of the project. Following their lead, AutSPACEs has innovated a "traffic" lights system which is a solution to the challenge of not wanting to suppress people's ability to share negative experiences, while also not wanting to risk triggering platform users. These features of the moderation strategy have been tested via. user testing sessions. Additionally, guidelines for those who are supporting others to share experiences or who are writing about their observations of others have been written and are included on the platform. Further, a guide for moderators highlighting the benefits and risks has been completed, and a moderator sign-in is incorporated into the platform so that the moderation strategy is functional on the platform. In line with the participatory values of the project, there are ongoing iterations of the moderation strategy via. community feedback. (2)

5. Contribute to ethics submission

We have now received ethics approval for the AutSPACEs platform to collect user data. This was a mammoth piece of work which involved articulating the values and needs of a highly complex project, which is unorthodox in its methods. We gained ethics approval while holding true to the expressed values of the AutSPACEs community despite some pushback. Having the evidence available for this was an example of the benefits of our open research approach and long-term documentation. While I believe the ethics application deserves an "exceeded" rating, the exceeded really belongs to David Sarmiento who did the majority of the work, which I was only supporting. It's exciting to be at the phase now where we are able to launch the platform. (2)

6. Publish a paper on moderation (stretch additional paper)

A paper on the moderation strategy for AutSPACEs has now been published in the Data and Policy Journal (https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/data-and-policy/information/about-this-journal). This is the result of long-term co-working with autistic moderation leads and is a fantastic result which also provides a tangible benefit to participatory contributors. In creating the paper, we were thorough in our use of community feedback available via. open datasets which are published on the AutSPACEs repository. We followed open research values throughout, including publishing a pre-print and linking to original source data. The resources and workflow for designing the moderation strategy is all openly available on GitHub. The paper also highlighted the suitability of a co-creative process in designing moderation strategies. In addition to this, we co-authored a chapter on Autistic Phenomenology laying out a research protocol for combining multiple strands of expertise to investigate autistic people's experiences. (2)

7. Turing Way Chapter

There have been numerous public-facing disseminations of our findings and values via. a number of avenues, including for the Autistica Inclusive Spaces Report, the Annual Turing Report, and a blogpost for the Software Sustainability Institute. These took immediate priority as they had a more urgent deadline. As a longer-term goal, the plans for Turing Way Chapter became more ambitious: we ran a workshop for the SSI's Collaborations Workshop on co-creation, which we used as a way of gathering insights for the chapter, as well as actively bringing people into The Turing Way community. We now have a group of collaborators who can collectively write the co-creation chapter. Work on the chapter will be ongoing, and is now an exciting opportunity to bring together three communities in one shared piece of work: The Turing Way, The Software Sustainability Institute, and AutSPACEs. Working in this way across communities is in line with the values of all three groups, and it is an additional benefit that we are now in a position not only to produce the chapter, but to do so in a way which demonstrates and builds the very co-creative practices we outline: the methods and the content are aligned. We will also work with The Turing Way team to share best practices around accessibility and inclusion. so that we can bring the AutSPACEs community to The Turing Way, in ways which are inclusive of neurodiverse collaborators and also productive.

8. Future plan for AutSPACEs via. RASP

We have been part of an exciting, ambitious alliance between multiple autism experts with different methods, backgrounds and disciplines via. strategising work on autistic phenomenology. The work, led by Professor Jonathan Green, brings together multiple strands of research and builds on AutSPACEs both in terms of repurposing the platform to increase the breadth and scope of data collection around autistic people's experiences, and in terms of the participatory and community aspects of our research. Throughout the collaboration, we have been able to feed in knowledge from AutSPACEs to create a strategy around inclusive participatory practices as well as using citizen science in an innovative way. This is a fantastic opportunity as if successful the grant application will provide future sustainability for AutSPACEs, expand reach and the research scope of our platform, and is highly value-aligned in terms of autism advocacy and including autistic researchers and empowering research collaborators. At this stage, we have passed the first round of our application review, which gave us a high rating and praised the participatory elements of the project which were formulated using the practices developed through AutSPACEs, and given our responses to reviewers. While we are hopeful of gaining the grant, the process has created strong academic connections which will be valuable to the future of the project, even if there is a negative outcome, and demonstrates that there are important future applications of the AutSPACEs platform and research methods. The chapter on autistic phenomenology, mentioned above, is a good example of reusable outcomes of grant writing. (3)

# EDI Training

I have completed trans awareness training. I have also hosted trainings on the topic of diversity and inclusion, for instance for a PPIE community call. EDI is core to by work and I am constantly improving via. feedback from the neurodiverse participants I work with on a day-to-day basis.

# Learning and development plan

I've found mentoring via. the Software Sustainability Institute incredibly useful and supportive- for instance, it's been helpful in being able to support members of AutSPACEs to use GitHub, as well as my mentor supporting me to build the platform AutSPACEs locally and design my own website on sensory processing. These technical skills are important for my current work as well as being useful skills for the future. Being part of the collaborations workshop, and meeting and discussing with sustainability advocates, also supported my growth. One unanticipated development need this year has been managing my own mental health in response to external circumstances: I've found my colleagues within TPS as well as my managers (Kirstie and Bastian) incredibly useful in supporting me to do this.

# Main achievements

My main strengths have been a continued commitment to radical forms of inclusion in scientific research: nurturing positive connections with neurodiverse collaborators, supporting inclusivity and creating enthusiasm for AutSPACEs. In particular, I have forged strong working relationships with autistic collaborators on moderation strategies for the platform and on presentations, and have run inclusive research sessions with diverse participants including those with learning differences, varied communication styles, and with co-occurring conditions.

# Areas for development

I have struggled during this period with mental health issues, which has affected my consistency/levels of output. As discussed above, I have found support for this, and perhaps a more structured or integrated plan would be helpful. I could also be more pro-active in working with members of The Turing beyond those within TPS, as well as engage more fully with The Turing Way Community. While I have strong connections with members of AutSPACEs as well as other external organisations, and I have done this to some extent at The Turing (for instance via. the SDS SIG), I can find it difficult to navigate the Turing staff infrastructure. I would also like to build on my strategic decision-making and leadership skills.

# What do you enjoy?

I love many aspects of the role: I feel very supported and enthused by my colleagues within TPS and being able to work both practically and conceptually on research ethics and scientific methods. I am inspired and engaged by autistic participants in AutSPACEs and find working with them highly rewarding. I also enjoy the aspects of writing papers/chapters and presenting our work.

# What do you find challenging?

I've found it challenging to work on short term contracts. I've had a number of short-term extensions to my role but no permanent position. This has increased my levels of stress and anxiety ,and made it harder to focus on my work. It has made it harder to have a sense of stability in the role. Having the security of a long-term position would make it easier to strategise for the long-term and to think about and put in place future possibilities as well as to plan and manage my workload better. I also think that, while I enjoy facilitation and working with collaborators, this can be quite exhausting over time as it demands a lot of personal presence and empathy.

# Future Aspirations

I would love to continue to work within citizen science and neurodiversity. It would be great to be involved in future adaptations of the AutSPACEs platform and expand this work into other projects. If the autism phenomenology work does come through, that would be fantastic. I'm also still interested in doing a PhD at some point!