tag:theconversation.com,2011:/ca/topics/autism-at-school-9625/articlesAutism at School – The Conversation2023-12-01T13:38:43Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2125172023-12-01T13:38:43Z2023-12-01T13:38:43ZThese programs make college possible for students with developmental disabilities<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560916/original/file-20231121-24-bz6l3j.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C35%2C5832%2C3838&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Employment prospects are greatly enhanced for students with developmental delays if they acquired postsecondary education.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/man-with-down-syndrome-graduating-royalty-free-image/1346470556?phrase=college+graduation+and+intellectual+disability+&adppopup=true">Drs Producoes via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For students with intellectual and developmental disabilities, opportunities to attend college may appear few and far between. But this is changing, thanks to <a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/increasing-postsecondary-opportunities-and-success-09-17-2019.pdf">inclusive postsecondary education</a> – known as IPSE – programs at colleges across the United States. Here are some important things to know about these programs.</p>
<h2>What is inclusive postsecondary education?</h2>
<p><a href="https://www2.ed.gov/policy/speced/guid/increasing-postsecondary-opportunities-and-success-09-17-2019.pdf">Inclusive postsecondary education</a> refers to programs at colleges and technical schools that provide career and transitional training to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Transitional training helps these individuals move into adulthood, teaching them skills like how to set up a bank account, do laundry or cook for themselves.</p>
<h2>How many of these programs exist nationwide?</h2>
<p>Today, only <a href="https://thinkcollege.net/resource/advocacy-outreach/my-college-life-students-with-intellectual-disability-share-their-lived">about 2%</a> of the approximately 420,000 eligible children with intellectual disabilities attend an IPSE program after high school. But the number of these programs at U.S. colleges and universities has more than doubled since 2009, <a href="https://gcdd.org/about/105-general-content/3056-inclusive-post-secondary-education-ipse.html">from 148 to 328</a>. Every state <a href="https://thinkcollege.net/college-search">except for Wyoming</a> has at least one such program, while states like California, Texas, New York, Florida and Massachusetts have numerous programs.</p>
<h2>How did inclusive postsecondary education become important?</h2>
<p>As recently as the 1970s, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities did not have equal access to public primary and secondary schools. The disparity was so glaring, <a href="https://thinkcollege.net/sites/default/files/files/resources/Insight_12_R.pdf">parents in 26 states filed lawsuits</a> to assert their children’s right to a public education.</p>
<p>In 1975, <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/IDEA-History#:%7E:text=On%20November%2029%2C%201975%2C%20President,and%20locality%20across%20the%20country">Congress passed a law</a> now known as the <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/">Individuals with Disabilities Education Act</a> – or IDEA – which makes a free public education available to students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. From 1975 through 2021, the U.S. education system went from excluding 1.8 million children with disabilities to <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/about-idea/#IDEA-History">providing more than 7.5 million children</a> with an education.</p>
<p>Under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, most disabled students are <a href="https://sites.ed.gov/idea/files/postsecondary-transition-guide-august-2020.pdf">required to have a detailed plan</a> in place, no later than the age of 16, for how they will transition to adulthood. These plans must describe any resources needed for the transition period. Inclusive postsecondary education programs are considered one of the available resources.</p>
<h2>How do inclusive postsecondary education programs work?</h2>
<p>These programs focus on academic access, career development, campus membership and self-determination. Many programs use person-centered planning. This allows students to guide their own education. Students may work toward a certificate. However, inclusive postsecondary education programs do not lead to a college degree.</p>
<p>I teach at Kennesaw State University, where I serve as executive director of the oldest and largest of nine IPSE programs in Georgia: <a href="https://wellstarcollege.kennesaw.edu/academy/index.php">the Academy for Inclusive Learning and Social Growth</a>. The academy currently enrolls 48 students.</p>
<p>Students may attend the academy for two years or four. Years one and two constitute the <a href="https://wellstarcollege.kennesaw.edu/academy/certifications/details-asce.php">Academic, Social, and Career Enrichment Program</a>. Years three and four are known as the <a href="https://wellstarcollege.kennesaw.edu/academy/certifications/details-alcd.php">Advanced Leadership and Career Development Program</a>. After successfully completing the first two years, students may be invited back for the second two years. Students in each program earn a certificate that is recognized by the Georgia Board of Regents. </p>
<p>To complete a certificate, students must take 16 courses over four semesters. They must also successfully complete an internship and register social interaction hours. Each semester, students audit at least one course alongside their neurotypical peers. To graduate, students also must complete at least two additional trainings in the areas of culinary skills, computer technology, customer service or social media.</p>
<p>The academy provides extensive student support. Program advisers make sure that students excel and have their academic and social needs met. Course accommodations are made based on each student’s reading level and retention. Every student is assigned a <a href="https://wellstarcollege.kennesaw.edu/academy/mentor.php">peer mentor</a>. The mentor accompanies them to classes and social gatherings. </p>
<h2>Who is eligible for inclusive postsecondary education programs?</h2>
<p>Admission requirements vary between different programs. For example, the academy where I work requires a minimum of a third grade reading level and the absence of significant behavioral problems. The academy also requires the completion of a psychological exam, a copy of any individualized education plan and an academic transcript. Most important, though, is the student’s desire to participate and complete all of the academic, social and career <a href="https://wellstarcollege.kennesaw.edu/academy/admission/criteria-process.php">requirements for the certificate</a>.</p>
<h2>Do inclusive postsecondary education programs make a difference?</h2>
<p>As a program director, one of the biggest benefits that I see is that students develop friend groups, often for the first time, and are able, depending upon the program, to live independent of their parents. At Kennesaw State University, about 75% of our 48 students reside on campus in university housing with a roommate. </p>
<p>There are a number of other <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00224669211013354">benefits</a> of inclusive postsecondary education programs. Research by Think College, a national research and evaluation center, indicates that a student who completes an inclusive postsecondary education program has a <a href="https://thinkcollege.net/sites/default/files/files/resources/teachers_can_F_918.pdf">65% chance of being employed within one year</a>. This is compared with the 17% national employment rate for adults with a developmental or intellectual disability. Anecdotal evidence suggests that students in these programs have high rates of attendance and graduation. For example, the Academy for Inclusive Learning and Social Growth has an 85% graduation rate for students in our two-year program.</p>
<p>Despite all the benefits I’ve observed in my role, <a href="https://www.centre-ipse.org/uploads/6/2/0/8/62081869/mossoff_j_greenholt_j_hurtado_t_2009_assesment_ipse_young_adlts_with_dd.pdf">assessing all the elements of success</a> across the field is still a challenge. That’s because these programs are complex, relatively new, and every program is different.</p>
<h2>How do I learn more?</h2>
<p>Families can learn more about IPSE programs by viewing the <a href="https://thinkcollege.net/college-search">Think College</a> website and also by contacting the disability and <a href="https://rsa.ed.gov/about/states">vocational rehabilitation agencies</a> in their states.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/212517/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Neil Edwin Duchac II- The Academy for Inclusive Learning and Social Growth receives funding from the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities.</span></em></p>Inclusive postsecondary education programs help students with intellectual disabilities make friends and become independent adults.Neil Edwin Duchac II, Associate Professor of Social Work and Human Services, Kennesaw State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2029972023-06-30T14:09:06Z2023-06-30T14:09:06Z‘Dehumanising policies’ leave autistic people struggling to access health, education and housing – new review<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534448/original/file-20230627-31322-i8q760.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4160%2C3120&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Autistic people often don't receive the correct healthcare to meet their needs.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-woman-many-people-waiting-medical-1033246597">toodtuphoto/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html">Around 3% of people</a> are estimated to be autistic and it is a lifelong disability. Most autistic people experience the sensory world differently, such as places being too loud or too bright. We also typically communicate in a more direct way than is usual.</p>
<p>In the UK, the Equality Act 2010 means that autistic people should receive reasonable adjustments – meaning organisations must make changes to how they provide their services to remove environmental and social barriers. Despite this, autistic people often experience society as highly disabling. We die between 16 and 30 years younger than non-autistic people, and have a suicide rate <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1362361318764742">nine times higher</a>.</p>
<p>Autistic people are often misunderstood by non-autistic people who <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613221129123">fail to recognise</a> how autistic people show empathy. This misunderstanding is embedded in many government bodies, which can result in dehumanising policies and services that do not meet autistic people’s needs.</p>
<p><a href="https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/63401">We reviewed</a> the evidence from a range of government and non-government research and reviews to understand how well autistic people fair in relation to government services. We looked at the areas described by William Beveridge, founder of the UK welfare state, as <a href="https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/livinglearning/coll-9-health1/coll-9-health/#:%7E:text=By%20the%20outbreak%20of%20war,%2C%20disease%2C%20squalor%20and%20want.">“the five giants”</a>: health, education, employment, poverty and housing. Our findings, which focused on England and Wales due to differences relating to devolution, were bleak.</p>
<p><strong>1. Health</strong></p>
<p>Many government services designed to support autistic people are not available without diagnosis. However, in the UK, most autistic people <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/13623613211059674">aren’t yet diagnosed</a>.</p>
<p>We found diagnosis waiting lists were long – for example, <a href="https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/our-services/integrated-autism-services/diagnostic-assessments-for-autism/">more then 20 months</a> for people served by the Cardiff & Vale health board in south Wales. Across England, between June 2021 and 2022, the waiting list for an autism assessment rose from <a href="https://digital.nhs.uk/data-and-information/publications/statistical/autism-statistics/july-2021-to-june-2022">88,000 people to more than 122,000</a>. </p>
<p>Even with a diagnosis, autistic people often don’t receive healthcare that meets their needs. Some people don’t even tell doctors they are autistic, because they expect to be treated badly. Of those who have told their GP, more than 75% said their GP didn’t make <a href="https://westminsterautismcommission.files.wordpress.com/2016/03/ar1011_ncg-autism-report-july-2016.pdf">any reasonable adjustments</a>, such as allowing extra processing time during appointments. </p>
<p>Being expected to phone to book appointments is also difficult for <a href="https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/12/2/e056904">nearly two-thirds of autistic people</a>, yet many GP surgeries insist on phone calls to book appointments. Autistic people also report that clinical spaces <a href="https://www.ndti.org.uk/resources/publication/its-not-rocket-science">are painfully bright, busy and loud</a>, which can make it harder for us to explain what is wrong to the doctor.</p>
<p><strong>2. Education</strong></p>
<p>Autistic people often struggle in educational institutions because they rarely meet our needs. This can mean, for example, that autistic children are labelled as “troublemakers” by teachers, rather than disabled.</p>
<p>Despite autistic people accounting for only 3% of the population, around <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/send-review-right-support-right-place-right-time">80% of those sent to pupil referral units</a> are autistic. This has lifelong effects, as <a href="https://lordchrisholmes.com/report-disabled-students-allowance-dsa/">only 8% </a> of students with a “statement of special educational needs” or an education, health & care plan progress to university, compared with 50% of non-disabled people. </p>
<p>For autistic people who do make it to university, the disabled students allowance (DSA) should pay for extra costs – but <a href="https://lordchrisholmes.com/report-disabled-students-allowance-dsa/">less than one-third </a>of eligible students get DSA. In addition, the support provided by universities is often <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14703297.2020.1850320?journalCode=riie20">poor quality or absent</a>, leaving autistic students disadvantaged.</p>
<p><strong>3. Employment</strong></p>
<p>The UK’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/15/contents">Autism Act 2009</a> says that autistic people should be supported to be able to work. However, autistic people are <a href="https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/disability/articles/outcomesfordisabledpeopleintheuk/2021">less likely to be in work</a> than non-autistic people. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/access-to-work">Access to work</a> is a UK government scheme to pay disabled people for the extra costs of working, but the application and claiming processes are complicated. Of the 42% of autistic adults who say they need help to access work, <a href="https://s4.chorus-mk.thirdlight.com/file/1573224908/61601577629/width=-1/height=-1/format=-1/fit=scale/t=443899/e=never/k=a402a7d4/nas_appga_report.pdf">only 12% are getting it</a>.</p>
<p><strong>4. Poverty</strong></p>
<p>Autistic people are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-01-2022-0004">more likely</a> to live in poverty than non-autistic people. <a href="https://edm.parliament.uk/early-day-motion/39649/dont-write-me-off-campaign">A 2009 report</a> found one-third of autistic people in the UK were not in paid work or getting benefits. One reason for this is that the benefits designed to stop disabled people living in poverty, such as the personal independence payment (PIP), can be hard to apply for, especially for autistic people. </p>
<p>And for people who manage to apply for PIP, autism falls within the “psychiatric disorders” category, which means they are <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/personal-independence-payment-statistics-to-april-2022/personal-independence-payment-official-statistics-to-april-2022#pip-statistics-by-disabling-condition">least likely to receive the award</a> and most likely to lose their PIP upon renewal. </p>
<p><strong>5. Housing</strong></p>
<p>Around <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09687599.2021.2004881">12% of autistic people are homeless</a>. As rent typically costs far more than the amount of money awarded in housing benefit, and autistic people are less likely to be in work or have access to benefits, they are more likely to struggle to pay for housing. </p>
<p>This can be made worse by the “<a href="https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/resources/bedroom-tax">bedroom tax</a>”, which is when tenants in social housing have their benefit reduced if they have spare bedrooms. This affects <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/19491247.2021.1964253">single people under 35</a> especially, as they are only eligible for the <a href="https://england.shelter.org.uk/housing_advice/benefits/benefits_for_under_35s_in_shared_housing">shared accommodation rate</a>. Autistic people can find it hard to live with other people due to their sensory needs, and there are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14616718.2014.992681">few one-bedroom properties</a>. </p>
<p>Autistic people who do not have somewhere to live are more likely to be <a href="https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201919/jtselect/jtrights/121/121.pdf.">placed in secure residential care</a>, where they are subjected to similar confines to people in prison, by staff who may have <a href="https://www.autism.org.uk/advice-and-guidance/stories/stories-from-the-spectrum-alexis-quinn">limited understanding of autism</a>. They can also be subjected to clinical “treatment” that has the same <a href="https://catalystjournal.org/index.php/catalyst/article/view/29579/23427">questionable origin</a> as <a href="https://www.stonewall.org.uk/everything-you-need-know-about-conversion-therapy">gay conversion therapy</a>, and which guidance states <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/contentone/bild/ijpbs/2022/00000012/a00101s1/art00001?crawler=true&mimetype=application/pdf">should not be used</a>.</p>
<p>The research supporting this approach, known as applied behaviour analysis (ABA), is often riddled with <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.676303/full">undeclared conflicts of interest</a>. Those who experience ABA have been found to be <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/AIA-08-2017-0016/full/html">more likely to experience symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder</a> (PTSD).</p>
<p>Worse, some autistic people in residential care have experienced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/mar/28/parents-of-former-mendip-house-resident-claim-they-were-misled-over-scale-of-abuse">abuse by staff</a>. In the most severe cases, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2018/may/30/seven-years-winterbourne-view-learning-disabled-people-abuse">autistic people have died</a> due to abusive and/or negligent treatment while in residential care. </p>
<h2>A cumulative impact throughout life</h2>
<p>In every area of government services, we found policies that failed to account for known autistic needs. These failures have a cumulative impact throughout life. A lack of accommodations in education leads to less likelihood of securing accessible employment and greater reliance on benefits and social housing. </p>
<p>To improve this, the policy-making process needs to be made accessible to disabled people so that services meet our needs. This could include ensuring that consultation processes reach out to a broader range of autistic people, and then meet their needs to submit evidence.</p>
<p>It is also important that policy-makers put evidence from the autistic community ahead of evidence provided by non-autistic “experts” who fundamentally misunderstand autism, can have conflicts of interest, and thus can not speak on our behalf. </p>
<p>Autistic lives depend on it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202997/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Aimee Grant receives funding from UKRI, the Wellcome Trust and the Research Wales Innovation Fund. We wish to thank Dr Gemma Williams and Richard Woods, co-authors of the chapter this article is based on.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Kathryn Williams receives funding for her PhD studentship from the Economic and Social Research Council. She is affiliated with Autistic UK CIC, where she is a voluntary non-executive director. </span></em></p>A review of government services has found that autistic people are being failed in health, education, employment, poverty and housing.Aimee Grant, Senior Lecturer in Public Health and Wellcome Trust Career Development Fellow, Swansea UniversityKathryn Williams, PhD Candidate, Cardiff UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1934462023-01-08T19:00:28Z2023-01-08T19:00:28ZWhat are ‘masking’ and ‘camouflaging’ in the context of autism and ADHD?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494311/original/file-20221109-8962-jjhq3g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C6%2C4288%2C2837&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many <a href="http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x">autistic</a> people and <a href="https://psychcentral.com/adhd/adhd-masking">ADHD-ers</a> report using “masking” and “camouflaging” in their lives. This is where people <a href="https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/10.1108/AIA-09-2018-0036">conceal certain traits</a> and replace them with neurotypical ones to avoid being recognised as neurominorities. </p>
<p>This can <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/524122">involve</a> changing things such as </p>
<ul>
<li><p>tone of voice</p></li>
<li><p>facial expressions</p></li>
<li><p>eye contact</p></li>
<li><p>speech patterns, and</p></li>
<li><p>body language.</p></li>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x">Autistic</a> people make these changes in an effort to match dominant social norms.</p>
<p>Some <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk-FtgGV8I8&vl=en%22%22">ADHD</a>-ers also embrace the concept, though <a href="https://psychcentral.com/adhd/adhd-masking">ADHD masking</a> remains under-explored in research. </p>
<p>Masking and camouflaging can cause immense <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-018-03878-x">stress</a> for neurominorities. And they’re different to the adjustments neurotypical people make in response to social cues. While neurotypical people may moderate behaviour to enhance social success, <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-021-04912-1">masking and camouflaging differ</a> as they are used to avoid negative consequences.</p>
<p>Here’s what you need to know.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A person's face is covered by a leaf." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494327/original/file-20221109-12-zqnn54.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Masking and camouflaging are linked to physical, emotional, and intellectual exhaustion.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How does masking or camouflaging affect neurominorities?</h2>
<p>Masking and camouflaging are linked to:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5">physical, emotional, and intellectual exhaustion</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29039208/">anxiety, depression, and poor self-image</a></p></li>
<li><p>negative <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32148068/">self-perception and identity loss</a></p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2021.0021%22%22">burnout</a> </p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-019-04323-3">suicidality</a>.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Yet, without masking and camouflaging many autistic people report experiencing difficulty <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5">getting jobs and qualifications</a> or issues with <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29071566/">social exclusion</a>. They may even risk <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-017-3166-5">verbal and physical assaults</a>. </p>
<p>The consequences of unmasking can be enormous. Disclosing autism can risk <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-kept-disabled-migrant-children-out-for-decades-its-time-we-gave-them-protection-instead-73677">permanent</a> residency <a href="https://www.equaljusticeproject.co.nz/articles/burdens-and-borders-disability-discrimination-in-new-zealand-immigration-law2020">applications</a> being denied, and may lead to unwanted “<a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/shock-therapy-massachussetts-school/story?id=11047334">treatments</a>”. For autistic people of colour in particular, this can even result in violence from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1089/aut.2020.0077">police</a>. </p>
<h2>Reducing the need for masking and camouflaging</h2>
<p>In my late twenties, I found out I am autistic. Suddenly, things started to make sense. From failing ninth grade, to chronic unemployment, and social isolation, I realised my disorder was causing these poor outcomes – or so I first thought. </p>
<p>This medical model understanding assumes disability is created primarily by a <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/facts.html">medical disorder</a> in the body or brain. That struggles autistic people or ADHD-ers face with social life, employment, or schooling are because their brain doesn’t work the way it “should”. </p>
<p><iframe id="tc-infographic-790" class="tc-infographic" height="400px" src="https://cdn.theconversation.com/infographics/790/c3bc862b28fd8bfabcb03a877134e0029e20465e/site/index.html" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<p>The <a href="https://dsq-sds.org/article/%C2%A0view/1065/1254">neurodiversity movement</a> asks us to rethink this. It challenges us to ask how society can change to better include <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/NeuroDiversity-Birth-Idea-Judy-Singer/dp/064815470X">neurominorities</a> (rather than seeing neurominorities as a problem needing to be “fixed”). </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theautisticadvocate.com/2018/06/takethemaskoff/">#TakeTheMaskOff campaign</a> on Twitter, driven by neurodiversity activists, aims to address anti-autism discrimination and boost social acceptance and inclusion.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1030567928155045888"}"></div></p>
<p>So, how can society prevent poor wellbeing, social, educational, and employment outcomes for neurominorities? And what’s this got to do with masking?</p>
<p>My <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/524122">research</a> suggests a first step is to begin identifying how neurotypical privilege – the cultural and social dominance of neurotypical norms – drives masking and camouflaging. </p>
<p>My work on autism is influenced by the work of activists who have <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/(SICI)1099-0798(199624)14:1%3c41::AID-BSL223%3e3.0.CO;2-R">paved the way for disability anti-discrimination policy</a>. My recent paper <a href="https://www.karger.com/Article/Abstract/524122">argues</a> for an <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev-soc-073014-112142">intersectional approach</a> to examining why autistic people use masking and camouflaging and what changes we can make to reduce the need for them to do so. </p>
<p>Intersectionality identifies how forces such as colonialism, racism and patriarchy help reinforce systemic inequity. </p>
<p>For example, might neurominority women in male-dominated settings be under extra pressure to mask in order to “pass” as neurotypical? Might <a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Weight-Our-Dreams-Racialized/dp/0997504501">autistic people of colour</a> face <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-981-13-8437-0_14">unique risks</a> when unmasking, in ways that most white people do not?</p>
<p>Perhaps one day we will see legal protections for visible neurominorities who cannot mask and camouflage, or choose not to.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A woman covers her eye with a cardboard piece." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/494329/original/file-20221109-26-wxbtt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">We can begin identifying how neurotypical privilege – the cultural and social dominance of neurotypical norms – drives masking and camouflaging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-holding-a-cardboard-box-with-a-drawing-7304963/">Photo by Leeloo Thefirst/Pexels</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the meantime, you can support <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/neurodiversity-as-the-next-frontier-part-1-celebrating-all-kinds-of-clever-in-higher-education/">neurodiversity inclusion</a> by:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>learning what <a href="https://au-ti.com/2022/08/22/the-checklist-of-neurotypical-privilege/">neurotypical privilege</a> is and how it is perceived by neurominorities</p></li>
<li><p>acknowledging that unmasking and advocating for change can be <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.727542/full">risky</a> for neurominorities</p></li>
<li><p>learning about <a href="https://opal.latrobe.edu.au/articles/educational_resource/Neurodiversity_toolkit/13322981">neurodiversity cultural sensitivity</a></p></li>
<li><p>facilitating remote work and study options, and analysing how working from home during COVID lockdowns <a href="https://www.latrobe.edu.au/mylatrobe/what-learning-teaching-and-working-from-home-can-teach-us-about-neurodiversity/">showed what’s possible</a></p></li>
<li><p>using disability support resources designed by neurominorities. Try <a href="http://neurodiversityhub.org">Neurodiversity Hub</a>, which has resources for universities, employers, and students.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Schools, workplaces, social circles, and research institutions should address neurotypical privilege. They should empower diverse neurominority leaders, and support them to drive systemic cultural change.</p>
<p>This is how we can remove barriers to unmasking, and improve life for neurominorities at work, school and in broader society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193446/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth Radulski sits on the advisory board for Untapped.</span></em></p>Masking or camouflaging is where people conceal certain traits and replace them with neurotypical ones to avoid being recognised as visibly neurodiverse.Beth Radulski, PhD Candidate and Neurodiversity Project Manager, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1144802019-03-29T12:23:51Z2019-03-29T12:23:51ZParents of autistic children often face a tough linguistic choice – but bilingualism can be of huge benefit<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/266507/original/file-20190329-70986-e9tny5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mainstream schools aren't always suitable for children with autism.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portrait-kid-boy-holding-colour-pencil-1172327539">Ann in the UK/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bilingual or multilingual families have difficult choices to make if their child is diagnosed with autism. While it is certainly possible to be bilingual if you are autistic, many parents are advised that one language may be easier or more realistic than two. That is despite our research group finding that <a href="https://doi.org/10.17863/CAM.37986">bilingualism has no negative effect on autistic traits</a>, or in fact on <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27443172">any developmental disorder</a>. </p>
<p>On the contrary <a href="http://theconversation.com/can-you-raise-an-autistic-child-to-be-bilingual-and-should-you-try-98653">bilingualism may be beneficial for autistic children</a>, giving them more opportunities to socialise, more access to their cultural identity and, crucially, the chance to communicate with members of their wider family. In fact, our research suggests that parents of autistic children who are raised in a bilingual home <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30703680">overwhelmingly aspire</a> for their children to grow up speaking two languages.</p>
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<p>However, around the world, when it comes to making school choices for their children, many bilingual families with autistic children are faced with a dilemma. They often have to choose between their heritage and cultural preference and an autistic child’s educational needs. </p>
<p>A case in point is Wales, a country with two official languages – Welsh and English. Some families in Wales would like to raise their child bilingually but while children with autism can attend Welsh medium schools, there are no specialist autism schools that educate through the medium of Welsh. Often parents have to choose between their child’s language and their needs.</p>
<h2>Autism and Welsh</h2>
<p>As part of an interdisciplinary project on multilingualism, <a href="http://www.meits.org/project-strands/strand/strand-6">Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies</a>, our research group has investigated the experiences of parents, teachers and the children themselves in Wales when it comes to bilingualism and autism. We have found that all three groups hold very <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30703680">positive attitudes towards bilingualism</a>. </p>
<p>The children were enthusiastic about learning other languages at school and highlighted the usefulness of being able to speak both English and Welsh. Teachers suggested that bilingualism increased autistic children’s employability in later life, and their ability to pick up other languages. Parents were also keen to highlight the cultural and social advantages for their children. </p>
<p>One mother that we spoke to, Vicky, mentioned that being bilingual is part of her son’s identity and culture. While another, Jane, outlined the possible social advantages of her son speaking two languages:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It’s made him have to gauge somebody else’s preferences. Before he opens his mouth, he’s making those judgements – ‘do I speak to them in English or Welsh?’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Despite these positive views, two key issues came to the fore which indicated that being bilingual was not always a practical possibility for children in Wales. Firstly, it emerged that in the case of children with more acute language difficulties, parents and teachers considered one language to be more appropriate than two. </p>
<p>Speaking about her son, Jamie, who was consistently using English in his Welsh-medium school, Patricia noted, “you can’t assess him if he’s not speaking the Welsh and I don’t want to disadvantage him”. This sentiment was echoed by Jamie’s teacher, who said that “he finds it hard socially because he is constantly speaking English and everyone else is speaking Welsh”. Another mother, Naomi, agreed that if her son “was having difficulties communicating his basic needs, then probably we would have gone with just one language”.</p>
<p>Secondly, parents of autistic children in Wales often face difficult decisions about the type of school their child should attend. Many felt that a mainstream environment was not entirely suitable for their child, believing they required additional support of the type only found in specialist autism schools. </p>
<p>However, the conspicuous lack of Welsh-medium specialist provision often leaves parents with the dilemma of choosing between an English-medium specialist education (and a potential loss of bilingualism) or a Welsh-medium mainstream education (without sufficient specialist support). This sense of compromise was exemplified by Naomi, who wanted her son to have a bilingual education but admitted that “finding a specialist school that will be able to do that is unlikely”.</p>
<p>Together our findings suggest that while children, parents and educators tend to appreciate the benefits of speaking both Welsh and English, they are often constrained by the lack of specialist provision offered though the medium of Welsh. This barrier was alluded to in a recent <a href="https://gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2018-02/rapid-review-of-the-welsh-in-education-strategic-plans-2017-20.pdf">review of the government’s Welsh Language Strategy</a>, which raised concerns about Welsh-medium provision for pupils with additional learning needs. </p>
<p>This research may well resonate in other countries across the world where education is offered in more than one language. We recommend creating more opportunities for children to access specialist education in two languages, so that the possibility remains open for autistic pupils in Wales – and beyond – to enjoy the many benefits of being bilingual.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/114480/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Howard is funded by the University of Cambridge in association with the AHRC-funded project, Multilingualism, Empowering Individuals, Transforming Societies.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Gibson receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) for Strand 6 'Multilingualism and cognition: implications for motivation, health and well-being' of the cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional project 'Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals,Transforming Societies (MEITS)', AH/N004671/1.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Napoleon Katsos's research is supported by funding from the Wiener-Anspach Foundation (The Impact of bilingualism and bi-dialectalism on linguistic and cognitive development') and from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK) for Strand 6 'Multilingualism and cognition: implications for motivation, health and well-being' of the cross-disciplinary and cross-institutional project 'Multilingualism: Empowering Individuals,Transforming Societies (MEITS)', AH/N004671/1.</span></em></p>Parents of autistic children in Wales face a choice between English-medium specialist education or Welsh-medium mainstream education.Katie Howard, PhD candidate of Modern Languages, University of CambridgeJenny Gibson, Lecturer in Psychology and Education, University of CambridgeNapoleon Katsos, Reader in Experimental Pragmatics, Department of Theoretical and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, University of CambridgeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/936162018-03-29T09:41:05Z2018-03-29T09:41:05ZHow to help autistic children socialise in school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212418/original/file-20180328-109199-1bie1ro.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=5m0saygewSv_Zp-wVvaNRA-1-0">shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s not hard to find representations in films or on the television of fictional autistic people with poor social skills and who struggle to form relationships. </p>
<p>There is the abrupt and tactless Saga Noren in the Swedish crime drama The Bridge, played by <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/sofia-helin-on-the-bridge-and-why-she-based-saga-noren-on-a-cross-between-dirty-harry-and-a-goat-a6727586.html">Sofia Helin as if she has Asperger’s</a>. Or young Joe in BBC drama <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0759b0c">The A Word</a>, absorbed in his music and preferring his own company much of the time, rarely joining in with conversations. </p>
<p>The reasons for these depictions of autistic people with an apparent lack of social ability are complex. Although given that impairments in social interaction form a core component of an <a href="http://www.aappublications.org/content/early/2013/06/04/aapnews.20130604-1">autism diagnosis</a>, they are perhaps unsurprising.</p>
<p>In schools, as I found in my PhD study, the result can be that <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-007-0402-4">social skills interventions</a> are seen as an educational priority – considered by some school staff and <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/219635/DFE-RR247-BCRP9.pdf">parents in particular</a> to be even more important that the core curriculum.</p>
<p>These interventions are typically in the form of specific exercises run by a teaching assistant. They often take place outside the classroom or to one side of the class – while the rest of the children are doing something else. Or school staff might set up a “social skills” group, where certain children – considered to be socially adept – are chosen so the autistic child can learn from their supposedly superior interaction skills. </p>
<h2>Unhelpful approach</h2>
<p>It’s not hard to see the inconsistencies in these arrangements. Removing a child from the rest of their class to help their social integration seems contradictory. And to set up one child as deficient while the others help out, is to create a problematic social dynamic – whereby the autistic child will always be seen as somehow inferior. </p>
<p>Not only this, but I also found in my research that autistic children were not given the same chances to take part in the other, more natural social opportunities, that schools usually provide.</p>
<p>Hardly any of the ten autistic children in my primary school based study attended breakfast clubs or after school activities, with the lack of funding for support staff being the main reason cited. On school trips – which some of the autistic children said were their favourite part of school – their participation was sometimes dependent on their parents being able to come along. Again, this was said to be due to issues of staffing. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=422&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212420/original/file-20180328-109193-1i4qser.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=531&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">School can sometimes be a hard place for autistic children.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=mgodWnGD66IygENosQhxzA-1-21">Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Even so, this doesn’t alter the fact that socialisation can be problematic for autistic children in schools – as it can be for others, too. Some of the autistic adults in my study, for example, explained how as children, they wanted to join in with games in the playground, but didn’t know how to go about it. Or they had been unable to take part in group activities because of sensory issues. </p>
<p>Some also said they struggled to cope with the social complexities of certain classroom activities – such as having marks read out loud, or having attention drawn to them for one reason or another. The adults also reported seeing a change in dynamics as they and their peers became older, with the other children becoming less tolerant and accepting. </p>
<h2>How to support socialisation</h2>
<p>What I also observed, however, was that when the autistic children were able to focus on what interested them – an issue already understood as crucial in terms of the <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Passionate-Mind-People-Autism-Learn/dp/1849051216">cognition and well-being of autistic people</a> – they needed much less input from a teaching assistant. And as the teaching assistant faded back, other children tended to come forward, keen to get to know this child who was usually <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/2016/nov/12/secret-teaching-assistant-we-end-up-hindering-the-pupils-were-meant-to-help">monopolised by an adult</a>. </p>
<p>Similarly, some of the autistic adults also explained how they had gained a sense of belonging when they joined groups or clubs aligned to their interests – making them feel more accepted, and less stigmatised. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/212419/original/file-20180328-109185-1b7rnbt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Other pupils can learn from autistic children, too.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=mgodWnGD66IygENosQhxzA-1-21">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My study also showed how crucial it is to understand and respect the social preferences of individual children. For some, friendships were important; for others, they were not. Some preferred to have one or two friends, rather than a large social circle. </p>
<p>So while it might be the case that some autistic children need support to socialise in schools, this doesn’t mean it’s the same for all. Contradictory social rules can be opaque and perhaps need to be explained, but this is not going to be helped by unnecessary segregation – being “velcroed” <a href="https://berarespectingchildren.wordpress.com/2014/10/07/improving-the-practice-of-teaching-assistants/">to the teaching assistant</a>, and setting the child up as being different from the others. </p>
<p>In fact, it may well be that some children, who can be easily distracted by <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/184078/DFE-RR218.pdf">chatting to their friends</a> in class, stand to learn a lot from autistic children, who might be <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Martian-Playground-Understanding-Schoolchild-Aspergers/dp/1849200009">more focused on their work</a> instead.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93616/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rebecca Wood received funding from the School of Education at the University of Birmingham, by way of a scholarship during her PhD.</span></em></p>Do autistic children need social skills interventions in school?Rebecca Wood, Honorary Research Fellow: Autism, Education and Inclusion, University of BirminghamLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/798972017-06-22T07:31:18Z2017-06-22T07:31:18ZPauline Hanson is wrong – we need to include children with disability in regular classrooms<p>Yesterday, One Nation leader and senator Pauline Hanson <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-06-21/pauline-hanson-under-fire-repulsive-bigoted-comments-autism/8640328">suggested</a> it would be better for teachers if students with autism and disability were put in special classrooms. </p>
<p>Hanson used children with autism as an example. She argued that their inclusion in regular classrooms was detrimental to non-disabled students, because “it is taking up the teacher’s time”. </p>
<p>She suggested moving students with disability “into a special class [to be] looked after and given that special attention … to give them those opportunities”. </p>
<h2>Do Hanson’s claims stack up?</h2>
<p>Hanson claimed that students with disability have a negative impact on their peers. Yet international research shows otherwise. Some research suggests students with disability have <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nienke_Ruijs/publication/248571719_Effects_of_inclusion_on_students_with_and_without_special_educational_needs_reviewed/links/565d9f1008aefe619b2650c7.pdf">no impact</a> on the learning of other students – whether they are present or not. </p>
<p>Other <a href="http://alana.org.br/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/A_Summary_of_the_evidence_on_inclusive_education.pdf">research</a> shows that students appear to benefit from having disabled peers. They develop greater appreciation for human diversity and capacity for positive relationships.</p>
<p>Hanson also claimed that students with disabilities were better served in separate classrooms or schools. Evidence shows the converse is true. Decades of research has concluded that students with disabilities who learn in inclusive classrooms make far greater progress.</p>
<p>For example, students with disabilities in mainstream schools <a href="http://www.teachingld.net/pdf/Article_4.pdf">achieve higher grades</a> than their counterparts in segregated schools and classes. They also develop more proficiency in language and mathematics and perform better on standardised tests.</p>
<p>Hanson claimed that students with disabilities take a disproportionate amount of teachers’ time, at the expense of non-disabled students. Yet <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233065784_Inclusive_education_for_pupils_with_autistic_spectrum_disorders_in_secondary_mainstream_schools_Teacher_attitudes_experience_and_knowledge">studies</a> exploring the views of teachers strongly indicate that they perceive inclusion as beneficial and valuable. </p>
<p>Teachers are more likely to feel anxious about their ability to meet their students’ needs and overwhelmingly <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/students_with_disability/%7E/media/Committees/eet_ctte/students_with_disability/report.pdf">express a desire</a> for more information and training in order to become better teachers for all their students. </p>
<p>Interestingly, teachers often <a href="https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Education_and_Employment/students_with_disability/%7E/media/Committees/eet_ctte/students_with_disability/report.pdf">cite</a> students with autism as a major group with whom they want to improve their skills. Our research shows there are many <a href="http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0034654313498621">highly effective strategies</a> that can be used in regular classrooms to achieve this. </p>
<p>In addition, teachers who receive appropriate professional learning about disability and inclusion <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Wendy_Symes/publication/233065784_Inclusive_education_for_pupils_with_autistic_spectrum_disorders_in_secondary_mainstream_schools_Teacher_attitudes_experience_and_knowledge/links/02e7e524eb9b1f01bc000000/Inclusive-education-for-pupils-with-autistic-spectrum-disorders-in-secondary-mainstream-schools-Teacher-attitudes-experience-and-knowledge.pdf">report</a> feeling more knowledgeable and less stressed. </p>
<p>This points to the importance of providing high-quality education and training for teachers. It also suggests the need for ongoing professional development in the teaching workforce. </p>
<h2>Support for students with disability in class</h2>
<p>Students with disability are not always <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2010.493230">well supported</a> in Australian schools, but this does not mean that they are better off in special classes or that “special attention” will lead to opportunity.</p>
<p>In fact, too much individualised support and attention can <a href="https://wroxhamtla.org.uk/wp-content/themes/striking/resources/research/articles/2011_BERJ_Blatchford_impact_of_support_staff.pdf">increase disablement</a> by fostering dependence, reducing the range of learning opportunities, and hampering achievement. </p>
<p>For this reason, it is critical that students with disability are included in the “real world” of school. This is important for them to become socially competent, independent and financially secure adults.</p>
<h2>Preparing for life after school</h2>
<p>Having desegregated classrooms is also an important step in paving a positive future after school. Inclusive education makes a powerful contribution to creating a more equitable and productive society. This prepares adults with disability for life after school and connects them in the wider community. </p>
<p>Students with disabilities who are educated in inclusive classrooms are <a href="http://emmittgonzalez.weebly.com/uploads/1/6/4/0/16406502/article_1_inclusion.pdf">far more likely</a> to complete post-secondary education, making them much more capable of engaging in the workforce and obtaining meaningful employment. </p>
<p>Additionally, students with disabilities who attend their local schools are also more socially connected and <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/8446050_Peer_Relationships_and_Social_and_Recreational_Activities_Among_Adolescents_and_Adults_with_Autism">engaged in their community</a> as adults. </p>
<p>Hanson’s comments were based on anecdotes from conversations with a limited number of teachers. However, there is both established and new evidence that clearly indicates Hanson’s claims are unsubstantiated.</p>
<p>Most importantly, when considering the placement of children with disability in the schooling debate, we should focus on both promoting quality education for all kids (regardless of their backgrounds), and providing the tools for a society in which all adults can work, study and interact socially.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/79897/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Associate Professor Linda J. Graham receives funding from the Australian Research Council (ARC) and the Queensland Government Education Horizons scheme. She leads QUT's Student Engagement, Learning & Behaviour (#SELB) Research Group and is a Director of All Means All - Australian Alliance for Inclusive Education.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Kate de Bruin receives funding from the Commonwealth Department of Education and Training relating to the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data for Students with Disability.</span></em></p>Evidence shows that the senator’s comments on the burden of children with disability are misleading.Linda J. Graham, Associate Professor in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyKate de Bruin, Researcher in Inclusive Education, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/535002016-01-28T19:22:43Z2016-01-28T19:22:43ZWhat are your rights if your child with a disability is denied a school place?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109316/original/image-20160127-19667-mkdjdp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Parents often don't realise their child has a right to be enrolled and to receive an equal standard of education in a private school.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/paladin27/22118445058/">Paladin27/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Parents are often accused of being too pushy when it comes to their child’s education. The stereotype is of a demanding consumer parent and an over-scheduled child, enrolled in violin lessons, language classes, maths tutoring – and the most expensive private school the family can afford. </p>
<p>But not even money can guarantee some kids an education in the Australian private school system.</p>
<p>Australian discrimination law is designed to ensure that children cannot be denied enrolment in any public or private school on the basis of their disability. And that they’re treated equally once they are enrolled. </p>
<p>The federal <a href="http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/dda1992264/">Disability Discrimination Act 1992</a> covers both public and private schools. The legislation makes it clear that a school cannot refuse enrolment because of the child’s disability or offer enrolment on less favourable terms. </p>
<p>Under the act, a school can only refuse enrolment if it would cause an unreasonable level of difficulty – “unjustifiable hardship” – to enrol the child. </p>
<p>State and territory laws provide additional protections against disability discrimination in education, but apply to private schools in a more piecemeal way. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.education.gov.au/disability-standards-education">Disability Standards for Education</a>, made under the federal act, give more clarity and weight to this right to non-discriminatory enrolment. </p>
<p>But <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-schools-avoid-enrolling-children-with-disabilities-53494">research shows</a> that children with disability are regularly being turned away from private schools. </p>
<p>With the backup of legal rights, parents don’t have to accept that. </p>
<p>So why aren’t they being pushier and demanding private school places for their children? </p>
<h2>Knowing your child’s rights</h2>
<p>Parents of kids with disabilities can be forced into the role of constant advocate for their child. When a parent has to act as advocate for their child in several complex areas of life, taking on one more fight can be too much.</p>
<p>Parents also have a reasonable fear that by complaining or forcing a school to enrol their child they’re setting up that child for a school experience marred by exclusion and ostracism. </p>
<p>Several practitioners and advocates have commented on the huge number of people with complaints who would not bring them, for fear of making their already vulnerable child more disadvantaged. </p>
<p>But an early complaint may be the best way to clarify the child’s rights from the start, without having to intervene throughout the school experience.</p>
<p>Parents often don’t realise their child has a right to be enrolled and to receive an equal standard of education in a private school. Even when parents know their child has education rights, they still may not believe those rights will be upheld. </p>
<h2>The legal process</h2>
<p>The federal or state anti-discrimination body will attempt to resolve a discrimination complaint through conciliation between the parties in the first instance. </p>
<p>It’s only if this is unsuccessful, and the person making the complaint wants to proceed further, that the complaint goes before a court or tribunal. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, cases on disability discrimination law have often fared badly in the court system. And when parents hear about such cases, it has a chilling effect on further legal action. </p>
<p>It can be daunting for individuals to take on institutions, let alone when the prospects of success seem low. And discrimination cases that do make it to court are often the “hard” cases, the ones less likely to succeed because they’re fraught and complex. </p>
<p>But the hidden good news here is that many complaints to the Australian Human Rights Commission or state anti-discrimination bodies are successfully and privately resolved between the parties. Because this is a confidential process, the public – including parents – don’t get to hear these good news stories. </p>
<p>Some of the cases that have succeeded have been transformative. This includes the <a href="http://www.piac.asn.au/legal-help/public-interest-cases/public-interest-cases-2008/scarlett-finney-v-hills-grammar-school/a">Finney v Hills Grammar School</a> case involving a young girl, Scarlett Finney, with spina bifida who was refused enrolment at a Sydney private school. These cases have paved the way for future students and more inclusive schools.</p>
<p>Once a child is enrolled in the school of choice, it is important to remember that the right to equal education extends to their participation in all aspects of school life. A school may need to provide additional support for a child to enjoy those rights.</p>
<h2>How to make a case</h2>
<p>What should you do if you believe your child has been discriminated against? Here are some tips for parents:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Know your child’s rights. Information is available from the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/dda-guide-getting-education">Australian Human Rights Commission</a> or your state or territory anti-discrimination body.</p></li>
<li><p>Once informed, speak to the school directly about your concerns. Most discrimination occurs unintentionally, because of lack of information and understanding. Building good communication and supportive relationships within the school, where possible, is the best and simplest way to ensure that your child receives an equal education. </p></li>
<li><p>If direct communication with a school is ineffective, you can get information about making a discrimination complaint from the <a href="https://www.humanrights.gov.au/complaint-information">Australian Human Rights Commission</a> or your state anti-discrimination body.</p></li>
<li><p>You can also get legal advice or assistance from a community legal service, such as the <a href="http://disabilitylaw.org.au/">Australian Centre for Disability Law</a> or your local community legal centre.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>• <em>This piece is part of a three-part series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/disability-discrimination">Disability Discrimination</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53500/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karen O'Connell's research was supported under Australian Research Council's Discovery Projects funding scheme (project number DP150102935) and a University of Technology Sydney Chancellor's Postdoctoral Research Fellowship. The research discussed in this article was completed under Ethics approval UTS HREC REF NO. 2014000013.</span></em></p>Parents need to be pushier and demand private school places for their children.Karen O'Connell, Lecturer, University of Technology SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/534902016-01-26T19:18:15Z2016-01-26T19:18:15ZChildren with disabilities risk being misdiagnosed in order to receive school funding support<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/108833/original/image-20160121-9725-ijz0sw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Tying funding to disability categories is putting pressure on schools and parents.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In Australia, children with disabilities only receive additional government funding if they fall into a
<a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/alarm-at-autism-doctor-shopping-for-diagnoses/news-story/688477e7b600bd9de7c51f36078a843a">recognised disability category.</a> As a result, schools and parents often come under pressure to obtain the “right” diagnosis for their child. Such misdiagnosis carries a hidden cost.</p>
<p>The funding pressure flows from schools to parents and the doctors who assess children. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1754.2005.00634.x/abstract?userIsAuthenticated=false&deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=">Medical practitioners</a> report being put under pressure from schools to provide an alternative diagnosis for children whose diagnosis doesn’t qualify them for funding support. </p>
<p>For example, in many systems attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) falls outside the eligible funding box, whereas autism spectrum disorder (ASD) does not. </p>
<p>Parents of children with dyslexia, speech/language difficulties, central auditory processing disorders, dyspraxia, and developmental disorders (not otherwise specified) report similar difficulty gaining support for their child.</p>
<p>It has led to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/health/alarm-at-autism-doctor-shopping-for-diagnoses/news-story/688477e7b600bd9de7c51f36078a843a">doctor shopping</a>, whereby parents visit multiple doctors to obtain a diagnosis for their child. </p>
<p>This creates pressure to find a doctor or clinical psychologist who will agree that a child has a more “severe” disability – a process called <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10803-007-0478-x#/page-1">diagnostic substitution.</a></p>
<h2>Why is this happening, and who’s most affected?</h2>
<p>To qualify for higher levels of support a child must undergo assessment by school counsellors and diagnostic specialists whose job it is to determine type and levels of need. </p>
<p>The claim then needs to be confirmed; <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1034912X.2014.955791#.VqVcwRh96GE">a process that can involve much contention</a>. Because there is often a gap between what different parties believe is necessary, both sides can be tempted to employ strategies to inflate or deflate a child’s learning support needs.</p>
<p>Children with lower support needs - who can and should be supported within the classroom - are unlikely to receive individual targeted funding.</p>
<p>To <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/1034912X.2014.955791">strengthen a child’s case</a>, schools sometimes <a href="http://eprints.qut.edu.au/57509/1/Disability_%26_Society_2012.pdf">inflate the level of support required and encourage parents</a> to obtain a diagnoses to “tip” the child into a higher support category. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/109115/original/image-20160125-447-1p8gpu0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Not all children have access to the learning support they need.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">from www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>How funding is tied to diagnosis</h2>
<p>Currently each state education system has its own funding criteria for disability support. The overriding principle in Victoria is that the needs of children with a disability can and should be met within the inclusive classroom through <a href="http://www.education.vic.gov.au/Documents/school/principals/health/casestudytwosupportpwqdtp.pdf">quality differentiated practice</a>.</p>
<p>This involves adjustments to curriculum and instruction such as ensuring that a child with attentional difficulties sits near the teacher, using short sentences and concrete examples for children with language difficulties, or providing children with dyspraxia additional time or alternative modalities to present their work. </p>
<p>Only when a student’s needs cannot be met through such adjustments, or through support from the learning support team and other school-based resources, is additional support through individual targeted funding considered necessary.</p>
<p>Such funding can be used for a range of options including teacher professional development, purchasing assistive technologies, teacher aide time and so on. This is where problems kick in as childrens’ needs are sometimes not being met because appropriate classroom adjustments are not being made.</p>
<h2>Misdiagnosing disabilities</h2>
<p>An incorrect diagnosis can have a big impact on what happens in the classroom and cause the funding support to be misdirected.</p>
<p>Why? Well, one school counsellor told me his advice for teachers with a child on the spectrum: “Just give him a lot of visuals” (little pictures designed to support language comprehension).</p>
<p>Now imagine that the child’s primary diagnosis was actually ADHD or oppositional defiance disorder (which has been the case for many of the young people in my research) and think about how successful using a lot of “visuals” is going to be.</p>
<p>How about later when that student behaves in ways that their next year’s teacher can’t fathom? Or when a young person with conduct disorder is rediagnosed with ASD simply to find him a place in a special educational setting, and then discovers he can create havoc by pushing his new peers’ buttons?</p>
<p>Diagnostic substitution can seem like a means to an end for desperate parents, but it can be a bad end for students. </p>
<h2>Where to now?</h2>
<p>Ultimately, the problem is chronic underfunding of our schools and a lack of quality support for students with learning difficulties in regular classrooms. </p>
<p>Although the current Federal government promised last year that the <a href="http://www.igiveagonski.com.au/budget_fails_on_disability_and_gonski">Gonski disability loadings</a> would flow from 2016, this funding has been delayed. </p>
<p>There are also concerns over the accuracy of the data on which the loadings were to be based. According to <a href="http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/education/hidden-toll-of-student-disability/news-story/d155f1c1595468df3095c310c4340a60">reports</a>, some schools have identified as much as 25% of their students with a disability, while others have identified as little as 2%. Such discrepancies suggest a possible lack of procedural rigour and/or gaming of the system.</p>
<p>But more money won’t necessarily lead to improved outcomes if it is going to be used for yet more <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-way-schools-cope-with-learning-difficulties-is-doing-more-harm-than-good-36544">teacher aide time</a>, visuals, sensory vests, wobble chairs, and the like. The research evidence doesn’t support adhoc approaches but they are distressingly common on the ground.</p>
<p>What we most need is improvement at the teaching front line through quality “<a href="http://www.schooldisabilitydatapl.edu.au/Content/Downloads/level-of-adjustment-provided-to-the-student.pdf">differentiated classroom practice</a>” and this is where efforts should be focused.</p>
<p>Classroom teachers need more time to plan, time to collaborate, time to engage in professional learning, and time to work individually with students who need a teacher’s expertise and guidance.</p>
<p>Yet many teachers are still of the view that adjustments need only occur for “verified” students. And so, the pressure to diagnose remains.</p>
<p>What we need is a stable apolitical funding model that guarantees an adequate base resource standard regardless of where the child is educated but which provides additional funding for schools educating children experiencing disadvantage, including disability. A funding model like that proposed by the <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-a-gonski-anyway-13599">Gonski Review</a>.</p>
<p>Unless things change and a comprehensive needs-based system is adopted, dangerous practices like diagnostic substitution will just continue. </p>
<p>• <em>This piece is part of a three-part series on <a href="https://theconversation.com/au/topics/disability-discrimination">Disability Discrimination</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/53490/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Linda J. Graham receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Financial Markets Foundation for Children. She is a member of the Australian Association for Education Research (AARE) Executive Committee and is the Editor of the Association's scholarly journal, the Australian Educational Researcher. </span></em></p>By tying funding to disability categories, schools and parents are being put under pressure to seek a diagnosis for their child in order to get funding support.Linda J. Graham, Principal Research Fellow in Education, Queensland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/446832015-07-16T10:04:01Z2015-07-16T10:04:01ZHow to help young people with autism stay on in education after school<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88529/original/image-20150715-26319-11j5zmw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The transition between school and further education can be difficult for young people with learning difficulties. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Teenagers at school via l i g h t p o e t/www.shutterstock.com </span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fewer than <a href="http://www.aettraininghubs.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/13.2-Finished_at_School.pdf">one in four</a> young people with autism continue their education after school. Too often, colleges and universities are just not equipped or well-enough prepared to support young people with autism to move into further or higher education. There are also problems with their transition from school. Even where schools do provide support for young people with autism, there are often few links between schools and colleges to help a young person on to the next stage of his or her education.</p>
<p>However, a new law that came into force in 2014 enshrined the right of young people with special educational needs and disabilities to get support in education and training up until the age of 25. The <a href="https://www.gov.uk/children-with-special-educational-needs/extra-SEN-help">education, health and care plan</a> for young people, introduced by the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/6/contents/enacted">Children’s and Families Act 2014</a> also provided for each young person to receive a personal budget for that support. Local authorities are obliged to ensure that the amount of direct payments allocated to each young person is sufficient to secure their agreed provision of education.</p>
<p>As a result of these changes to the law, further education colleges are required to accept new responsibilities relating to education for young people with special educational needs and disabilities. To help colleges prepare for changes relating to young people with autism, the Department for Education commissioned the autism charity, <a href="http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/">Ambitious about Autism</a>, to run a programme aimed at improving educational opportunities for young people with autism after they leave school.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/88531/original/image-20150715-26314-c6gx3i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Helping young people choose their next step.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Autism via Constantin Stanciu/www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The <a href="http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/who-we-are/campaigns/finished-at-school-programme">Finished at School</a> programme ran from April 2013 until March 2015. Working with its partners, <a href="http://www.nasen.org.uk/">Nasen</a>, and the <a href="http://www.aoc.co.uk/">Association of Colleges</a>, the charity built upon its earlier campaign for better educational opportunities for young people with autism. The 110 young people involved in the programme all had a diagnosis of autism that was “complex”, meaning that it was associated with other learning difficulties. The young people were between the ages of 14 and 19, and were all preparing to make a transition in their education at the end of Years 11 or 13.</p>
<p>Finished at School involved four college hubs, each working with three local partner secondary schools to support the young people with autism to make a successful transition to education after school – be that university or a further education college. </p>
<h2>Making a successful transition</h2>
<p>The programme was evaluated by our team from the <a href="http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/cedar">Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research</a> at the University of Warwick. The evaluation collected data from school, college, and local authority staff, along with the young people with autism, their parents and carers, and the <a href="http://www.ambitiousaboutautism.org.uk/sites/default/files/Evaluation%20Report.pdf">final report</a> had some very positive findings.</p>
<p>Of the 110 young people involved in the programme, all 45 who left school at the end of the 2014 summer term made successful transitions to continued education, with 34 of them progressing to general further education colleges. In addition, four made successful transitions to specialist further education colleges, and seven to school sixth forms. The rest of the 110 young people will make their transitions in the coming years. </p>
<p>The young people who took part in the evaluation gave accounts of how good transition planning under the programme had helped them take up new opportunities. One young person with anxiety issues explained: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>The college link with my school helped a lot, and the taster days too. I came to the college every Thursday, and that was good. The taster days gave us an impression of what they do. I wanted to see what site I wanted to be in. I decided to come to this site because it’s more, like, calm. It’s very small, and it’s very calm and everyone is just really nice.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Young people at the centre of the decision</h2>
<p>Another important success came with a three-day training programme for college and school staff involved with supporting the young people’s transition to college. The core of the training focused on an approach that recognised that what matters most is the young person’s voice about their own future and needs. The training proved to be highly valued by staff. </p>
<p>The programme also helped improve and extend local partnerships using the project hubs. These, in turn, were linked in to pre-existing strategic planning forums and partnership boards with roles in provision and support for young people with autism. At the college level, all the participating colleges also amended their strategic plans to write in support for learners with autism. </p>
<p>More can be definitely be done to support young people with autism as they make choices about what to do after school. The programme demonstrated that along with appropriate support, locally-coordinated transition plans that put young people with autism at the centre means many more young people with autism, including complex autism, can access local college life successfully.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/44683/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Stephen Cullen works at the University of Warwick's Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), which received funding from Ambitious about Autism, through a competitive tendering process, in order to evaluate the Finished at School programme. The evaluation was required as a condition of DfE funding received by Ambitious about Autism to develop and run the programme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mairi Ann Cullen works at the University of Warwick's Centre for Educational Development, Appraisal and Research (CEDAR), which received funding from Ambitious about Autism, through a competitive tendering process, in order to evaluate the Finished at School programme. The evaluation was required as a condition of DfE funding received by Ambitious about Autism to develop and run the programme.</span></em></p>New partnerships between schools and colleges have helped more children with autism continue in further education.Stephen M. Cullen, Senior Research Fellow, University of WarwickMairi Ann Cullen, Senior Research Fellow , University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/270872014-06-30T13:34:16Z2014-06-30T13:34:16ZWhy children with autism often fall victim to bullies<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/52489/original/bbh2vwym-1403884724.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">I didn't get the joke. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-35531647/stock-photo-young-child-holding-up-sign-to-mask-true-emotion-psychology-concept.html?src=pp-same_model-35531653-Z_db2vlYzryCUGzQj6MRZw-2">Young child via Cheryl Casey/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place among groups of young people can make the social world a very daunting place for children with autism. Being at odds with their peer group can lead to social isolation, rejection, and a lack of the supportive friendships that can protect against bullying. </p>
<p>Autism (including Asperger syndrome) is a developmental condition that the <a href="http://www.autism.org.uk/about-autism/autism-and-asperger-syndrome-an-introduction.aspx">National Autistic Society describes</a> as affecting “how a person communicates with, and relates to, other people and the world around them”. It is on a spectrum, meaning that although there are common areas of difficulty, people with autism are affected in very different ways, with widely varying degrees of severity. </p>
<p>As a consequence, while approximately 30% of young people with autism spectrum conditions attend special schools, <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/children-with-special-educational-needs-an-analysis-2013">around 70% are in mainstream settings</a>, according to the government. </p>
<p>Worryingly, there is a growing body of research that indicates that young people on the autism spectrum are considerably more vulnerable to bullying than their peers. </p>
<h2>Bullied for being different</h2>
<p>The nature of autism means that negotiating the complex social world can be a challenging and daunting experience. It is a “hidden condition”, and so other children may struggle to understand why a pupil with autism is behaving in a different way. Results from my recent <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">research</a> – in which more than 100 parents and 700 teachers of children with autism spectrum conditions participated – indicated that behaviour problems are a major predictor of being bullied. </p>
<p>Outbursts can be seen as frightening or disruptive by peers, despite being a result of unbearable levels of stress and anxiety. It is also difficult for other children to understand some common differences, such as having particularly strong interests or sensitivity to noise. Jokes and sarcasm can also be problematic, with the autistic child often taking the literal meaning of what is said. </p>
<p>One such example would be a teacher telling a pupil to “pull up your socks” when intended to encourage more effort. This may be met with confusion and (what is perceived to be) an inappropriate or cheeky response by an autistic child who has taken the comment at face value. </p>
<p>With the arrival of adolescence, social groupings and conventions become more important and complex, presenting additional challenges. While bullying is generally thought to decrease with age, <a href="http://aut.sagepub.com/content/early/2013/07/23/1362361313495965.abstract">my research</a> suggests this may not be the case for young people with autism. We should be more, rather than less concerned, as this group of young people grows older. </p>
<p>Indeed, there have been a number of tragic cases where a young person with autism has taken his or her own life, often following years of bullying and isolation from peers. While suicide is thankfully rare, the short and long-term <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-health-impact-of-childhood-bullying-can-last-a-lifetime-26541">effects of being the victim of bullying</a> have been well documented. These negative consequences include low self-esteem, difficulties at school, and mental health issues, all of which can persist long after the bullying has ceased.</p>
<h2>What can parents and schools do?</h2>
<p>All of this paints a bleak picture. But it is important to remember that not all young people with autism are bullied, and there are strategies that can be used to prevent it. Bullying is a complicated context-dependent problem and it is important not to tackle one aspect in isolation but develop adaptive strategies, such as social stories. </p>
<p>Nevertheless, we need to focus not just on the victims, but also on the bullies and bystanders. There <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-8624.2010.01557.x/abstract">is evidence</a> that teaching pupils what to do if they witness bullying can help to protect victims, as children can learn to intervene, put pressure on bullies, or seek adult assistance. </p>
<p>Teachers with a good awareness of autism can be instrumental in promoting tolerance and encourage difference and individuality. It is <a href="http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08856257.2012.726019#.U62OYrHb7Io">also important to achieve a balance</a> between support and independence at school. </p>
<p>Too much adult support can prevent pupils with autism from having appropriate contact with peers. But insufficient support may lead to increased vulnerability to bullying, such as on the school bus or at break and lunchtime. Close contact and collaboration between home and school can also help build positive relationships. It is valued by parents who may be the first to spot the warning signs that their child is being bullied. </p>
<p>Tackling bullying cannot happen in a vacuum, and it is clear that multiple strategies are needed. If this can be achieved – as is the case in many proactive schools with a strong anti-bullying ethos – then the bullying of this potentially vulnerable group of young people can be prevented.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/27087/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Judith Hebron has previously received funding from the Department for Education for the evaluation of Achievement for All. She is currently funded jointly by the Simon Research Fellowship at the University of Manchester and the Leverhulme Trust as an Early Career Research Fellow. </span></em></p>Bullying can affect anyone at any time, but young people with autism are especially vulnerable. The results can be devastating. Not being able to keep up with the teasing banter that often takes place…Judith Hebron, Research Fellow, Manchester Institute of Education, University of ManchesterLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/257732014-04-23T05:20:23Z2014-04-23T05:20:23ZAutism research isn’t helping people live with daily reality<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/46817/original/skjfm9hp-1398161584.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C58%2C1024%2C590&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Will your research help my son catch a train?</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattcornock/9571003969/sizes/l">mattcornock</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the summer of 2010 as England was being knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa, something all together more hopeful was happening in London. A group of scientists, social researchers, parents and autistic people got together to join a discussion at the Institute of Education on research into autism. </p>
<p>The enthusiasm for the chance to debate and discuss complicated and emotionally charged issues like the “cure” and “prevention” of autism versus notions of autistic differences and what some call “neurodiversity” was astonishing – despite, and perhaps even because of, widely opposing views. </p>
<p>It led colleagues and me at the Centre for Research in Autism and Education to consider the need to find out what people with autism and their families thought about the current direction of research. </p>
<p>In a project called <a href="http://crae.ioe.ac.uk/post/64979963005/a-future-made-together">A Future Made Together</a>, funded by the charity Research Autism, we conducted the most comprehensive review of UK research into autism ever undertaken. </p>
<p>We consulted with more than 1,700 autistic people, their families, practitioners and researchers to understand what they thought of current autism research in the UK and where the funds towards autism research should be prioritised. </p>
<p>Our <a href="http://www.ioe.ac.uk/research/88499.html">report</a> acknowledged the many great strengths of autism research in the UK such as leading work in the area of cognitive psychology, stretching from the work of Sir Michael Rutter to Uta Frith. But it also noted considerable challenges in the years to come. While parents of children with autism were impressed by the amount of work that goes into autism research, they were not convinced that research had made a real difference to their lives. </p>
<p>One woman said: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>I fill in all these questionnaires and do everything I can to help … but when it comes down to it, it’s not real life. It’s always missing the next step. It’s great you’ve done this research, you’ve listened to my views … but now do something with it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Ignoring reality</h2>
<p>It turns out that too many people feel that there is a huge gap between knowledge and practice. Research doesn’t seem to help their child catch the train by themselves or keep themselves safe. And it doesn’t say how to get autistic adults into jobs and keep them there.</p>
<p>The people we spoke to said that they don’t want to – or can’t – read about research in academic papers. They want to hear about research in accessible ways. And they want to see real changes for their child, or for the person they work with. </p>
<p>British academics haven’t been taking enough notice of real-life issues. Our analysis showed that the majority of UK research focuses heavily on “basic science” – neural and cognitive systems, genetics and other risk factors – rather than on research targeting the immediate circumstances in which autistic people find themselves, on services, treatments and interventions and education. </p>
<p>Families of people with autism valued the need for basic research to understand better its underlying causes – but they wanted a more balanced profile, weighting research with a direct impact on the daily lives of autistic people more equally with core areas of basic science than is presently the case.</p>
<p>My view is that we need to take research in radical new directions. We must continue to develop our world-leading skills in key areas of autism science. But significant investment is also needed in areas of autism research currently under-resourced in the UK. And in order to work out which areas need the greatest investment, we ought to be listening to people about what they want from research. </p>
<p>Autism researchers do not do this enough. According to our findings, autistic people, their family members, and even practitioners are rarely involved in the decision-making processes that shape research and its application. Research priorities are thus set almost exclusively by funders and academics in specialist fields. </p>
<p>This pattern generates concrete problems for those responsible for commissioning local autism services, people working in such services, and for autistic individuals and their families, as they attempt to make evidence-based decisions on education, health and social care.</p>
<p>But this is also problematic because of the feeling of exclusion that it engenders. The people that we spoke to often felt disappointed and frustrated at being “mined” for information and having little or no opportunity to learn about the resulting discoveries and what they might mean for them. </p>
<p>They also felt as if their expertise and knowledge – what it is like to be autistic, to care for someone who is autistic, or to work with someone who is autistic – was disregarded by researchers. This lack of reciprocity resulted in feelings of distrust and disempowerment. One autistic adult said: “Whatever we say, is that really going to influence anyone?”</p>
<p>The rewards of working together are manifold. In fact, it may be the only way to ensure that the research that we do really counts. </p>
<p><em>This article is co-published with the Institute of Education. A longer version of the piece appears on <a href="http://ioelondonblog.wordpress.com/">its blog</a></em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/25773/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Liz Pellicano receives funding from the Medical Research Council, the Clothworkers' Foundation, Pears Foundation and various autism charities. </span></em></p>In the summer of 2010 as England was being knocked out of the World Cup in South Africa, something all together more hopeful was happening in London. A group of scientists, social researchers, parents…Liz Pellicano, Reader in Developmental Cognitive Science, UCLLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/249582014-04-08T20:08:31Z2014-04-08T20:08:31ZAutism at school: seven questions for parents<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/44981/original/mnvxndgm-1395976005.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">There are seven simple questions parents can ask to manage autism at school</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/downloading_tips.mhtml?code=&id=155859329&size=medium&image_format=jpg&method=download&super_url=http%3A%2F%2Fdownload.shutterstock.com%2Fgatekeeper%2FW3siZSI6MTM5NjAwNDc4MCwiYyI6Il9waG90b19zZXNzaW9uX2lkIiwiZGMiOiJpZGxfMTU1ODU5">Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Many children with autism find aspects of everyday life difficult, and school is no exception. School is a complex environment at the best of times, but even more so if you struggle with social situations, understanding other people, demands to perform academic tasks, constant changes to routines, and noise, crowding, and other sensory issues. At school children with autism can develop academic and social skills, if they get the right support.</p>
<p>Most children with autism require a tailored approach which involves educational interventions designed to address their specific needs. For parents, the challenge lies in working out which interventions will work best for their child. The best way to figure this out is by asking questions of educators. The following seven questions are based on a scientific <a href="http://profhastings.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/who-do-you-believe-model-for.html">model</a> of evidence built up over time.</p>
<h2>1) What are the needs of my child and my family at this time?</h2>
<p>Start by thinking about what is problematic for your child at the moment, or what positive skills you want to build up. You should try to include your child in this thinking. What do they want to achieve? It is very important that you can be clear with schools about what you and your child need.</p>
<h2>2) How will the intervention suggested address these needs?</h2>
<p>Look for a match between what you and your child want to achieve, and the intervention recommended or described by the school. How is the intervention going to directly address your priorities? It is okay if you are convinced to re-think your priorities, however don’t be diverted from your and your child’s needs that must be addressed by the intervention. Any intervention should not simply suit the school or educators, it has to suit you.</p>
<h2>3) How is the intervention meant to work?</h2>
<p>This is about “theory” - meaning there needs to be a clear explanation about the rationale for the intervention. What are the core problems or strengths of children with autism and how does this intervention build on or address those? The theory can also come from what we know more generally about child development, or how children learn, but there needs to be a strong logic to any intervention. If someone cannot convincingly describe this logic to you, be suspicious.</p>
<h2>4) Has the intervention been fully described and written down?</h2>
<p>Any school should be able to give you lots of detailed information about the intervention they propose to use. This may include what is involved, for how long, what resources are needed, how people are trained to deliver the intervention, what processes are in place to ensure the intervention is being properly delivered, and how people delivering the intervention are supervised. If this information is not available, alarm bells should be ringing. Underlying this question is the need to know when a particular intervention is and is not being delivered. Unless you can monitor this as a parent, educators could be doing anything with your child and passing this off as good intervention.</p>
<h2>5) Is there evidence the intervention is effective?</h2>
<p>Talking about evidence is often where conversations about interventions begin. Evidence is important but there are at least four other questions that need to be answered first, as we have seen. What should you as a parent be looking out for when it comes to evidence? The answer cannot be that the school has simply decided to use the intervention approach because they “know it works”. Instead, there should be scientific studies testing the outcomes of the intervention. Ideally, these studies will have compared the intervention to something else. The intervention might be compared with regular schooling practices, or another intervention that aims to do something similar. Studies ask whether the learning outcomes for children in a test intervention are better than in the comparison. This is often done using what is a called a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/building-evidence-into-education">Randomised Controlled Trial</a> where children are randomly allocated into a test study group or comparison group.</p>
<h2>6) Is there any evidence the intervention is effective in the real world?</h2>
<p>It isn’t enough to show that interventions <em>can</em> be effective under ideal scientific testing conditions, we need to know what outcomes might be obtained in the real world. Very few educational interventions for children with autism have been tested in typical mainstream or special schools. It is important to understand there is a risk the intervention will not work for your child at all, or that it might work less well than is suggested by the scientific evidence.</p>
<h2>7) Will the school be able to show you whether the intervention is working for your child?</h2>
<p>It is important to continuously check if a child is benefiting from any intervention approach. A school should be able to show you that what they are doing for your child is working. This means measuring their learning, and the outcomes being achieved for your child. Two additional issues are very important to have in mind: first, checking how your child is doing needs to be frequent. Enquiring once a year is not enough, you and your child need to know much sooner than this if something isn’t working. Second, the outcomes being measured for your child should include the priorities you identified with Question 1. So, the seven questions have to come full circle.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/24958/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard Hastings receives funding from Ambitious about Autism, the Autism Education Trust, Association Objectif Vaincre L’autisme (OVA), and the National Institute for Social Care and Health Research (Wales)</span></em></p>Many children with autism find aspects of everyday life difficult, and school is no exception. School is a complex environment at the best of times, but even more so if you struggle with social situations…Richard Hastings, Professor of Psychology and Education, University of WarwickLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.