Toolkits as participation infrastructure: a design-led systematic review of co-design workshops involving autistic people in technology development
| Título | Toolkits as participation infrastructure: a design-led systematic review of co-design workshops involving autistic people in technology development |
|---|---|
| Año | 2026 |
| Autor | Katherine Exss, Herbert Spencer, Daniel Serrano, Vanessa Vega Córdova, Izaskun Álvarez-Aguado, Felipe Espinosa, Jennifer Figueroa |
| Filiación | Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso |
| Tipo de Publicación | Artículo en Revista Académica |
| Revista | CoDesign |
| Indexación | WoS |
| Palabras Clave | Co-design, autism, technology, toolkit, participation |
| URL | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/15710882.2026.2650493 |
| Carreras Relacionadas | Diseño, Magíster |
This review examines how co-design practices engage autistic people in the creation of technologies, focusing on the methodological tools and infrastructures that enable participation. Although technological innovations for autism have multiplied, particularly in education, communication, and socialisation, many are still designed for autistic users rather than with them. Understanding how participation is scaffolded across design stages is crucial to advancing inclusive and neurodiversity-affirming design research. A systematic review of 34 peer-reviewed studies (2010–2025) revealed marked asymmetries in participation. Autistic people were most often involved in validation (64.9%), and in ideation (61.8%), where proxies such as caregivers or teachers frequently mediated input, but in less in prototyping (32.4%). Toolkits were most diverse during ideation, combining visual, tangible, and narrative supports; while prototyping and validation relied mainly on generic or standardised instruments. Four cross-cutting categories of participatory tools emerged: visual/tangible, narrative/structured, sensory/embodied, and technological/contextual. Current co-design practices remain uneven and child-focused, with limited cultural diversity. Advancing the field requires reconceptualising toolkits as participation infrastructures that accommodate multimodal communication and embodied expression. This approach can guide future design research towards more sustained, equitable, and neurodivergent-inclusive collaboration.
