PhD Student. Faculty of Health and Wellbeing. Centre for Health and Social Care Research. Sheffield Hallam University.

 To enable capacity and capability  with members of a peer advocacy group with a diagnosis of Autism  through the use of Participatory Research Methodologies

 The main objectives are to:  Develop social skills  Develop skills of group work (e.g., organisational skills)  Develop new skills as a co-researchers (on one or more research projects)  Develop new skills in research methods that may contribute to the development of emergent research methods  Measure what difference my engagement with the group has made to them in terms of contributing to the self monitoring of stress for self management.

 Autism is a condition which affects individual's social communication  People have difficulty organising self, life etc.  About 1 in 88 children has been identified with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC's Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network.

 ASDs tend to occur more often in people who have certain genetic or chromosomal conditions.  Parents who have a child with an ASD have a 2%–18% chance of having a second child who is also affected.  ASDs are almost 5 times more common among boys (1 in 54) than among girls (1 in 252).

 Studies have shown that among identical twins, if one child has an ASD, then the other will be affected about 36-95% of the time. In non-identical twins, if one child has an ASD, then the other is affected about 0-31% of the time.  The majority (62%) of children the ADDM Network identified as having ASDs did not have intellectual disability (intelligence quotient <=70).

 The stress sensor (Q Sensor) is a device that is worn on the wrist (similar to a watch).

 The stress sensor (Q Sensor) measures the stress level

 The sensor (Q sensor) measures emotional arousal via skin conductance, a form of electrodermal activity that increases during periods of excitement, attention or anxiety and lower during states such as boredom or relaxation. In addition, the sensor also measures temperature and activity, which can be used to differentiate between periods of physical activity and stress. So, not only are high stress levels measurable, but also periods of less stimulation, so that the sensor can indicate when the tour should speed up, as well as slow down.

 Multi-User Virtual Environments

 The use of Participatory Research and my own role as co- collaborator  attending the weekly meetings  help them get organised  minutes and agenda for the meetings  easy read ethics protocol, participant's information sheet and consent form  facebook- (Social Capital)  separate web page for the group (Group's identity)  separate notice board for the group (Group's identity)

 Influence of Participatory Research Methodology  Participatory Action Research (PAR)

 Mood Diary  Participation with Consent form  Facebook  Correlating digital data with mood diary data

 Shared presentations  Shared Publication  Put in a bid with CLAHRC