Co-constructing Neuroinclusion: Creating and piloting a tool to assess accessibility and inclusivity

Origin of the project

Giant Steps initiated this project and assembled a multi-faceted team in response to requests from the autistic community to promote neuroinclusion across various environments. For the past 40 years, Giant Steps has supported the broader community in enhancing accessibility and inclusion for autistic individuals. This encompasses the provision of consultation, training, and assessment services. Giant Steps has delivered these services across various sectors, including museums, major sports organizations, hotels, restaurants, arts and cultural destinations, community organizations, and first responders. The organization is exploring methods to formalize this work, potentially through a certification program that would offer organizations validated recommendations and a framework to enhance access and inclusiveness of their services and spaces for the autistic community. This project seeks to co-develop and validate a tool to improve neuroinclusion in collaboration with Montreal’s Espace pour la vie, the largest natural science museum in Canada, representing a significant advancement toward this objective.

Needs: Giant Steps has identified a critical need for formalized support in creating accessible and inclusive environments for autistic individuals. Currently, various sectors such as public museums, major sports organizations, hotels, restaurants, arts and culture destinations, and community organizations are seeking to improve their services and facilities to ensure they are inclusive of autistic and neurodivergent clients/visitors. Despite the increasing interest in neuro-inclusivity, there is no comprehensive tool available that rigorously evaluates accessibility and inclusiveness across different settings. The need is for a validated tool that provides formal recommendations and a framework for improvement, built and validated by autistic users.

Issues: The main issue is the absence of a standardized, adaptable tool for assessing and improving the inclusivity of environments and services. Current studies on accessibility primarily concentrate on distinct domains such as architecture (Mostafa, 2008), web accessibility (Raymaker et al., 2019), and sensory environments (Simpson, 2020). However, there is a notable lack of research that provides a comprehensive assessment of organizational culture, facilities, processes, programming, and services for neurodiverse individuals. Service providers and organizations encounter difficulties in recognizing and applying effective neuro-inclusive practices due to the absence of a reliable and validated framework. The lack of such a tool results in numerous environments being inaccessible or difficult for autistic individuals, contributing to their exclusion from various societal sectors.

Objective
Giant Steps has delineated four main objectives:

1. Development and Validation of an Assessment Tool: We will collaborate with autistic stakeholders to create a comprehensive tool for assessing the accessibility and inclusiveness of environments and services across various sectors. Trial audits will be conducted in different environments to validate the tool’s effectiveness and flexibility.
2. Establishment of an Autistic Working Group: A working group comprising autistic individuals will be formed to collaboratively develop and validate the audit tool, ensuring it accurately represents their lived experiences and needs.
3. Data Collection and Feedback Integration: Data and feedback will be collected from users, including families, professionals, and service providers, to improve the tool’s applicability and
   effectiveness.
4. Promotion of Neuro-Inclusive Practices: We will utilize the validated tool in collaboration with partner organizations to offer specific recommendations aimed at enhancing inclusivity.

Deliverables
Three main deliverables will be produced by the team:

• Publication of our collaborative methodology. Proposed title: “Nothing Without Us: A Neuroinclusive Approach to Co-Constructing and Validating an Accessibility and Inclusivity Tool.”
• A neuroinclusion toolkit (our co-constructed tool & training program comprising video and infographics) designed to educate leaders in various organizations and businesses on the implementation of the tool within their specific contexts.
• A guide for marketing specialists and web designers to assist businesses and organizations to effectively communicate the inclusivity of their services to autistic and other users.

Anticipated results / Spin-offs
The project will result in a publication outlining a neuroinclusive approach to developing and validating an accessibility tool through collaboration with key stakeholders. A neuroinclusion toolkit will educate leaders on implementing the tool within organizations, raising awareness of autistic clients’ needs. Additionally, a guide for marketing specialists and web designers will help businesses effectively communicate their inclusivity efforts, particularly enhancing Espace pour la vie’s marketing and fostering empowerment among employees and visitors.