Commentary on “Wales and Autism: The Impact of Philanthropy Matched with Ambition”

Abstract

Purpose This paper is a commentary that aims to address themes arising from the article by Morgan titled “Wales and Autism: The Impact of Philanthropy Matched with Ambition”. Design/methodology/approach This opinion piece considers the broader impact of stakeholder engagement in the field of autism, including how the dissemination of evidence-based support could be made more accessible for autistic people, their families and carers and philanthropists. Findings This paper highlights the link between stakeholder engagement and meaningful change in policy and practice in the field of autism. It highlights the need for philanthropists to invest in evidence-based support but highlights the difficulty in identifying and accessing such support. This piece supports the use of evidence and gap maps (EGMs) to increase the accessibility of autism research and evidence. Originality/value While stakeholder engagement is encouragingly rising in this field, most of the evidence is held in academic journals, which are behind paywalls and, therefore, inaccessible to many autistic people, their families, carers and associated professionals. Displaying evidence using EGMs provides an accessible way for autistic people and those who support them to identify possible avenues of support quickly and allows philanthropists to direct research funding to areas of high priority.