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PARTICIPANT INFORMATION SHEET
How do LGBTQIA+ autistic people understand romantic relationships?
STUDY BACKGROUND
You are being asked to take part in a survey which consists of 11 questions about how LBGTQIA+ autistic people understand romantic relationships and intimate partnerships. Research by Dewinter et al., (2017) identified that there is little knowledge surrounding sexuality development in autistic adults and there is also minimal consideration of intersecting identities in queer-based romantic relationship research (Junkins et al., 2024) meaning studies such as this are important. Studies surrounding autism and romance are scarce in research (Edge & Parker, 2025). This study aims to understand how people view relationships who may not have been in one already, and is written in an inclusive manner to take this into account.
This study is a wider part of a PhD project called Understanding autistic romantic relationships: Neurodiverse and Neurotypical perspectives. The aim of this study is to address the ‘gap’ in research surrounding LGBTQIA+ autistic people and romantic relationships/intimacy. This research (both this study and the wider project) aim to promote “positive autistic identity development” (Botha & Gillespie-Lynch, 2022 p.63) and wider the scope of support available to neurodiverse people regarding romantic experiences.
The researcher is Joseph Edge, a PhD student at Birmingham City University (BCU).
The supervisory team is made up of Dr Josephine Cornell (Director of Studies) and Dr Keeley Abbott from BCU and Dr Sam Parker from University of the West of England, Bristol (UWE).
WHAT WILL YOU NEED TO DO?
In this study you will be asked to fill out an online survey in the QuestionPro software, alongside some basic demographic information about yourself and a consent form.
The questions in the survey have been derived from literature on the topics of romantic relationships, intimate partnerships, autism and being LBGTQIA+. Each question is a ‘free text’ answer meaning that you will be invited to write a response, in full sentences, with your thoughts. There are prompts alongside each question – you do not have to use these, but they may be helpful to prompt your thinking. The questions focus around areas such as communication, social interaction, any previous experiences of intimate partnerships/romantic relationships and your personal identity regarding autism and being LGBTQIA+. Even if you have not had a romantic experience, your thoughts are very much wanted!
You will need to create a unique identifier code so that, in the case of a data withdrawal request, the researcher can locate and destroy your data.
This code must be made up of the first three letters of the street name you grew up on AND the first three letters of your favourite colour. For example, if the street you grew up on was called Albert Square and your favourite colour is Green, your code would be ALBGRE.
Please fill out each question and complete the survey. You can choose not to answer any question you do not feel comfortable with. Once the completion message is displayed on the screen, you will be directed to a debrief sheet. You must tick the box to confirm you have read this. You can then exit the survey by closing your internet browser. Your responses will be automatically saved.
WHO IS ELIGIBLE TO TAKE PART?
To take part you must be 18 years old or over. You must have an autism diagnosis. You must identify as LGBTQIA+. No previous relationship experience is necessary to take part; it is your understanding of relationships/intimate partnerships the researcher is interested in.
You may not take part if you fail to meet the above criteria. If you feel you are likely to find writing about your understanding and/or experiences of romantic relationships and/or intimate partnerships distressing, then you are advised not to take part. If you have any co-occurring diagnoses that you feel would make it difficult for you to take part then please refrain from doing so.
HOW LONG WILL THE STUDY TAKE?
The survey will take approximately 30 minutes to complete, depending on the depth of your responses.
ARE THERE ANY RISKS OF TAKING PART?
Please be aware of any potential adverse impact you may feel talking about romantic relationships, intimate partnerships and/or your autistic, LGBTQIA+ identities. If you feel that talking about any of these may be triggering then please refrain from taking part. There are organisations listed below you can contact for support if you feel adversely affected by taking part in this research. You can withdraw your data at any time, before, during and after the study up until, and inclusive of, Monday 11th May 2026.
To withdraw your data please contact Joseph Edge (researcher) on the email address listed below and state your unique identifier code and that you wish to withdraw your data. Your data will then be located and destroyed and will not appear in any part of the thesis write-up.
WHO TO CONTACT IF YOU ARE ADVERSLEY AFFECTED BY THIS STUDY:
If you feel adversely affected by any of the topics covered within this project please reach out to any of the following services:
The National Autistic Society is a leading Autism charity offering help and support for those who are autistic and their family, partners, carers and friends. They offer a range of resources and helplines, along with links and information for education across the whole of the United Kingdom.
Switchboard LGBT-
https://switchboard.lgbt/ 0800 0119 100
Switchboard is the national LGBTQIA+ helpline. Contact them for support with gender, sexuality, relationships, sexual health or just for a chat about how you are feeling. They have online chat and email options, too, for those who may struggle talking over the phone.
A service directory focused on support services for a range of needs across Solihull and Birmingham and further afield.
A directory of useful contacts for the LGBTQIA+ community concerning mental health and wellbeing.
QLife Australia -
https://qlife.org.au/ free and anonymous LGBTQIA+ peer support for those wishing to talk about gender, sexuality and related topics. This service is for people who reside in Australia only.
It Gets Better USA -
https://itgetsbetter.org/ LGBTQIA+
storytelling and resources for American participants. These resources are available for people who reside in the United States of America only.
ARE THERE ANY BENEFITS OF TAKING PART?
Although there are no direct, incentivised benefits for taking part, you will be contributing to an area of psychological research that is lacking. It is hoped that you enjoy the participation process. Thank you for taking the time to take part.
If you are a BCU student taking part through the Research Participation Scheme (RPS), you will receive 6 credits for taking part. It is essential that you include your RPS identifier code (found in your account) when it is asked for on the survey. Failure to provide this will mean that credits will not be awarded. The researcher is unable to grant credits unless you include your RPS identifier code. There are no exceptions to this.
YOUR RIGHT TO WITHDRAW AND WITHOLD INFORMATION
In line with regulations outlined by the British Psychological Society, you can stop being part of the research study at any time, without explanation. This includes before, during and after. You will still be entitled to the same benefits as someone who completed the study. You can also have your data withdrawn from the time you start the survey up until, and including, Monday 11th May 2026.
To withdraw from the survey:
Before: You can decide after reading this information sheet that you no longer wish to take part. You can withdraw from the survey by closing the internet browser.
During: If you decide you wish to withdraw from the survey once you have started to complete it, exit your internet browser. Your responses, although saved, will be excluded from the dataset and destroyed. They will not be included in any analysis.
After: If you decide to withdraw after you have completed the survey then you can do so up until and including 11th May 2026. You can withdraw by sending an email to the researcher stating your unique identifier code and the request to withdraw. Your data will then be excluded, destroyed and will not appear in any analysis write-up.
If you have any question surrounding data withdrawal that have not been covered on this sheet, please email the researcher using the address below.
YOUR RIGHT TO CONFIDENTIALITY/ANONYMITY
The only personal data that will be collected about you is what is included in the demographic information sheet. This relates to your preferred pronouns, age, gender identity, sexual identity and relationship status. if you include any identifying information in your survey answers (such as names of people/places) then this will be pseudonymised during the analysis process (information such as names/places will be changed, anonymised or redacted). Your unique identifier will ensure that the researcher does not know your name/true identity.
All demographic information will be kept separate from the main study data in a password protected OneDrive folder. All data collected will be stored securely on a university-based OneDrive system. Some responses to survey questions may be printed to be analysed. Once hand-written coding/analysis has been completed, physical data will be destroyed via BCU Confidential Waste facilities following being scanned into the OneDrive system.
All data will be stored in accordance with the University’s data protection policy. Data will be anonymised and may be shared between the researcher and the supervisory team, but it will not be possible to identify your true identity at any point. Data will be stored for the duration of the PhD plus 10 years, and in the case of publication, 10 years after the date of publication. Your data can be withdrawn from the study up until, and including, Monday 11th May 2026.
WHO IS ORGANISING THE RESEARCH?
Supervisory Team:
Director of Studies: Dr Josephine Cornell (Josephine.Cornell@bcu.ac.uk)
Second Supervisor: Dr Keeley Abbott (keeley.abbott@bcu.ac.uk)
External Supervisor: Dr Sam Parker (Sam2.Parker@uwe.ac.uk)
If you wish to withdraw your consent to participate in the data then please contact either Joseph Edge or any member of the supervisory team.
If you have any concerns or complaints, please contact the Faculty Academic ethics committee directly at
BLSSEthics@bcu.ac.uk
If you have any questions, comments or concerns about how we use or handle your information, please contact the Data Protection Officer at:
Data Protection Officer, Information Management, Legal Services, Joseph Priestley Building, Cardigan Street, Birmingham, B4 7RJ.
Participants can furthermore complain directly to the Information Commissioner at Information Commissioner’s Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow,
Cheshire, SK9 5AF, further information available at www.ico.org.uk.
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