Autistic Communication Tool

This participatory research project focuses on the development and evaluation of an Autistic Communication Tool (A.C.T.). The A.C.T. has been designed by autistic people, for autistic people and is a simple tool to help patients communicate their concerns and individual needs for discussion in GP consultations.

Although autistic people face the same preventable health problems that affect the general population they can experience worse outcomes because they are less likely to approach healthcare services or have successful interactions with them. Communication difficulties during consultations areas are a major contributing factor to the health inequalities experienced by autistic patients.

Aims of the A.C.T.

Alert healthcare professionals to patient's neurodiversity
Help autistic patients prepare for a consultation and consider how to describe their symptoms ahead of time.
Provide key information that will alert healthcare professionals to make reasonable adjustments to the consultation.
Assist healthcare professionals in asking appropriate questions that target the reason for the consultation.

The A.C.T. has been inspired by the Patient Concerns Inventory (PCI), a tool originally designed to aid consultations with head and neck cancer patients. The PCI has since been successfully implemented across other areas of healthcare, improving consultations, targeting symptoms, facilitating referrals and improving patient care. Crucially, the PCI is designed in close collaboration with patients so that its content and design is easy to use, appropriate and accessible.

The A.C.T. is a simple tool to help patients communicate their concerns and individual needs for discussion in consultations, enabling patient-centred care. It does not require any additional training for healthcare professionals and will be free to use.

Get involved

If you identify as autistic, we would like you to help us to pilot the A.C.T. to test its suitability. We would like you to use the A.C.T. in your Primary Care appointment and provide feedback through an online questionnaire. If you feel you would be able to help or if you would like more information please email jennifer.kirton@liverpool.ac.uk.