Reflections on the value of autistic participation in a tri‐national teacher‐training project through discourses of acceptance, othering and power

Wood, Rebecca; Milton, Damian

doi:10.1111/1467-8578.12216

Cited by 9 publications

(15 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Moreover, the intense concentration of autistic people has also been associated with a deep sense of well-being, or "flow states" (Csikszentmihalyi 1990;McDonnell and Milton 2014;R. Wood and Milton 2018), a concept which permits the pejoratively framed notion of "repetitive behaviour" to be more constructively considered (McDonnell and Milton 2014).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autism, intense interests and support in school: from wasted efforts to shared understandings

Wood

2019

Educational Review

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Having intense or "special" interests and a tendency to focus in depth to the exclusion of other inputs, is associated with autistic cognition, sometimes framed as "monotropism". Despite some drawbacks and negative associations with unwanted repetition, this disposition is linked to a range of educational and longer-term benefits for autistic children. Meanwhile however, and notwithstanding efforts on the part of school staff to provide support, the inclusion of autistic children in the school curriculum and additional activities is poor. Therefore, in this article, by employing empirical examples from a case study based in five mainstream primary schools in England, and elucidated via thematic analysis, I consider the role and functions of the strong interests of the 10 autistic children who participated, incorporating the views of school staff (n = 36), parents (n = 10) and a sample of autistic adults (n = 10). I delineate how the school staff responded to the intense interests of the autistic children and argue how accepting this cognitive trait can be related to a range of educational, social and affective advantages for the children, as well as less effortful, more empathetic and skilled support on the part of school staff, including a reduction in prompting and task repetition. Furthermore, by suggesting comparisons with the interests and motivations of all children in school, I posit that autistic children in particular, and all children in general, might gain from a deeper cognisance of this trait, which could therefore be incorporated profitably into curricular and pedagogical practices.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Autism, intense interests and support in school: from wasted efforts to shared understandings

Wood

2019

Educational Review

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“…'s (2017) study only a few professionals working in the field of autism acknowledged the need for autistic individuals to have a say in decisions that concern their education. Also, the literature search for this review provided only two papers having included people with autism (Guldberg et al ., 2019; Wood and Milton, 2018); these two papers present results from the same study which was led by British researchers. From the author's personal experience from interviews with parents of children with autism, the latter seem very reluctant to let their children participate in research.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 79%

“…Only 6 of these also included countries other than Greece (i.e. Gena et al ., 2005; Gulberg et al ., 2019; Guldberg et al ., 2017; Nikolaraizi and De Reybekiel, 2001; Poppi, Jones and Botting, 2019; Wood and Milton, 2018) whereas the rest of the studies provided data exclusively about Greece. The outputs were published in 27 different journals with almost 50% of them ( n = 19) having been published in 6 journals (see Table 1).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Additionally, policy makers should involve people with autism in research both as active research participants but also as co‐researchers following the example of other European countries (e.g. Wood and Milton, 2018). Practitioners, first and foremost, should ensure that the voice of pupils with autism is heard.…”

Section: Conclusion Directions For Future Research and Recommendations For Practicementioning

confidence: 99%

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Autism education in Greece at the beginning of the 21st century: reviewing the literature

Kossyvaki

2021

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This paper considers recent evidence on autism education in Greece in order to shed light on current developments and attitudes. Given the increase in relevant research in the country, a scoping review to identify topics that have been explored so far and propose areas for future research and implications for practice is timely and necessary. Peer-reviewed papers published between 2000 and 2019 were identified via electronic databases and their main themes were analysed. Themes related to autistic individual (i.e. the voice of autistic individuals and intervention studies), the family around them (i.e. the role of family and stigma), the role of teachers (i.e. teacher training and teacher stress levels) and the wider society (i.e. parent-teacher collaboration, the medical/deficit model of disability and inclusion) emerged from the review. The above themes are discussed in the light of the cultural characteristics of Greece and the recent economic crisis the country underwent as well as similar findings from other European countries.

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“…Indeed, according to Muskett (2016, 303), the ways in which communication impairment in autistic children and adults is ascertained must take into account "the specific social, interactional and relational circumstances in which they might be observed", arguing that professional practices should be "oriented towards interactional participation rather than remediation of individual deficit" (314). This suggests the need for an emphasis on the shared, interactional nature of communication, which a therapeutic model, whereby one person is delivering input to an impaired other, necessarily prevents (Wood and Milton 2018). Indeed, some offer instead a "transactional approach" (Prizant et al 2003) or emphasise the intersubjective nature of communication (Acheson 2008), rather than the "within-child" appraisal of interactive dysfunction (Runswick-Cole and Hodge 2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The wrong kind of noise: understanding and valuing the communication of autistic children in schools

Wood

2018

Educational Review

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As a result of the association of autism with speech and language difficulties, autistic school children can be subject to interventions ostensibly intended to remedy these problems. However, my study, based in five mainstream primary schools in England, which incorporated the views and experiences of school staff (n = 36), autistic children (n = 10), their parents (n = 10) and a sample of autistic adults (n = 10), suggests that these inputs do not always provide the children with the help they require. Indeed, notwithstanding some examples of effective assistance, the more evident communication of the autistic children, in its various manifestations, might be ignored and their wishes denied, if deemed not to correspond with the expectations or intentions of the supporting adult. Furthermore, their communication was also found to intersect with the issue of noise in schools, a complex phenomenon which can be an exclusionary factor for autistic children. Indeed, if some forms of noise were tolerated in school, the sounds emanating from autistic children might be disdained, while the communicative value of their silence was not evidently recognised either. Therefore, whether speaking, making noises or remaining silent, autistic children can be deemed to be making the wrong kind of noise. Elucidated via empirical examples from my study, the implications for research and practice are discussed, providing alternative perspectives on how to support the communication of autistic children, leading to greater agency, well-being and educational inclusion on their part. Keywords autism communication noise in schools silence inclusion autism education Consequently, to be autistic is to be involuntarily or selectively mute, or perceived as saying the wrong things, in the wrong way, and at the wrong time. Here, autistic people are cast into the role of deficient other (Milton and Sims 2016), they are 'disordered', metaphorically locked within an alternative "spatially removed state" (Broderick and Ne'eman 2008, 466), unable to speak, interact or relate effectively. Moreover, in the UK, and particularly within educational contexts, the result of these posited communication difficulties has been a strong emphasis placed on language and communication interventions (Jordan, Jones and Murray 1998). For example, Roulstone et al. (2012), in a study commissioned by the DfE, identified 158 separate interventions for children with speech and language communication difficulties. This report was one of a plethora of studies assumed by the Department for Children, Schools and Families following the Bercow Review (2008). These included, for example, an appraisal of 60 specific interventions by Law et al. (2012) and a focus on the profiles of need of autistic children and those with language impairments in mainstream schools by Dockrell et al. (2012). Thus, for autistic children, deemed to be impaired in their communication by dint of their diagnosis, communication interventions are perceived as an important priority in school (Parsons et al...

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Reflections on the value of autistic participation in a tri‐national teacher‐training project through discourses of acceptance, othering and power

Cited by 9 publications

References 18 publications

Autism, intense interests and support in school: from wasted efforts to shared understandings

Autism, intense interests and support in school: from wasted efforts to shared understandings

Autism education in Greece at the beginning of the 21st century: reviewing the literature

The wrong kind of noise: understanding and valuing the communication of autistic children in schools

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