Starting with Ourselves: A Pre-Participatory Approach For Inclusive Autism Research Through Digital Ethnography and Tangible Making

Autism's heterogeneity makes it challenging for non'autistic people to understand, and conventional research methods often place an unintended explanatory burden on autistic individuals. This paper presents a novel case study that combines digital ethnography with the creation of a tangible artefact to support researcher immersion in autistic cultural and experiential contexts. We demonstrate how this approach can promote researcher enculturation, foster empathy, and productively unsettle preconceived assumptions about autism. The method is not intended to replace existing participatory practices but to serve as an early'stage, proactive strategy for researcher self'education when preparing to work with a marginalised community.