ASD Explained for Peers,Parents, and Professionals

Freaks, Geeks and Asperger Syndrome: A User Guide to Adolescence Luke Jackson, 2002 London: Jessica Kingsley ISBN 1-843-10-098-3 Can the parent of a child with autism or Asperger Syndrome ever really comprehend the experiences of their child? As a greater number of cases are identified and more is understood about these conditions, autism and Asperger Syndrome seem to be increasingly commonly understood terms. Despite the clear definitions provided by diagnostic criteria for the conditions (e.g., American Psychiatric Association [APA], 1994), it often remains difficult for professionals, parents and other carers, particularly those who are newcomers to this field, to truly understand the complexities of these conditions with respect to the day-to-day influences upon the affected individual.     

Educating children and young people with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders: constructing personalised pathways to learning

This paper reports findings from a study about young people’s preferences for social interaction with similar and different others, in terms of a tension between social inclusion and homophily – the concept that similarity breeds connection. The issue was explored empirically using moral dilemmas scenarios to conduct in-depth semi-structured interviews with young people with Asperger syndrome, visual impairment and without disabilities. The data indicates that homophily and inclusion can come into a tension with an ethical dimension, since they represent, respectively, a personal preference to be among similar others and the moral imperative of including all people. The paper argues that this tension is constructive as it can challenge our understanding of what the ethical obligation to inclusion entails, and what treating the students respectfully means. Respect is often seen as an attempt to avoid the humiliation that any kind of recognition of difference can bring, and has tended to be translated into a demand for inclusion for all. However, the recognition of difference is an acknowledgement of young people’s right to make their own decisions, and can be reflected in provision and translated into educational and life opportunities; as such, it is also an expression of respect. Negotiating a way between the two understandings through dialogue can ensure that inclusion would be a shared value.     

Experiences of university life for students with Asperger’s Syndrome: a comparative study between Spain and England

Research has consistently shown that young people with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) are likely to experience increased anxiety during new social situations; yet, studies have been regionally and culturally bound. The aim of this study was to explore how higher education students with AS experienced attending university in two European countries: the UK and Spain. The objective was to find out if experiences differed between the two countries in relation to contrasting support arrangements and what kinds of interventions might aid students’ social well-being at university, an important learning outcome for future practice. This small-scale comparative exploratory study incorporated life-history interviews with nine students with AS. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Four superordinate themes significant to both groups of students in Spain and the UK emerged from the data: social relationships, ‘special interests’, ‘environment’ and ‘support mechanisms’. Students with AS need and want clear, unambiguous and structured information from academics; support to get to know others in ‘small special interest groups’; more designated ‘quiet zones’ across campuses; and above all, a move away from ableist notions of AS. To our knowledge, this is the only Spanish–UK comparative study of university students with AS.     

Book Reviews

Books reviewed in this article:
Kate Wall, Special Needs and the Early Years
Tessa Knott (ed.), An Introduction to Special Educational Needs in Early Years
Linda Watson, Spotlight on Special Educational Needs: Hearing impairment
John Thacker, Dave Strudwick and Elly Babbedge, Educating children with emotional and behavioural difficulties: Inclusive practice in mainstream schools
David Allen (ed.), Ethical Approaches to Physical Interventions: Responding to challenging behaviour in people with intellectual disabilities
Rebecca A. Moyes, Addressing the Challenging Behaviour of Children with High-functioning Autism/Asperger Syndrome in the Classroom: A guide for teachers and parents
Lisa Pyles, Hitchhiking through Asperger Syndrome     

国内Asperger综合征的研究现状

Asperger综合征是一组以社交障碍和狭窄、刻板的兴趣行为为特征,但无语言发育障碍,且认知能力正常的儿童。为了了解国内对AS的研究现状,本文从AS的智力水平、对刺激信号的接受与加工过程、社会适应能力的研究、家庭环境因素对AS儿童的影响及干预方法等方面对国内当前的研究成果进行了梳理,以飨广大同仁。     

Standing out and fitting in: a report on a support group for individuals with Asperger syndrome using a personal account

In this article, Andrea MacLeod, lecturer in autism studies at the University of Birmingham, and Paula Johnston, a woman with Asperger syndrome who now focuses on writing and speaking about her condition, consider the function of specialist group interventions for individuals with Asperger syndrome. These authors report on one model - a discussion and support group aimed primarily at young adults. The self-report of a former participant, a woman with Asperger syndrome, is used as a case study to illustrate issues and processes. Her report suggests that peer support and peer learning should be recognised as significant goals of such interventions and that interventions should be planned to respond to the needs that follow diagnosis. The authors suggest that clinical and educational services need to work together to ensure that children and young people have immediate access to such support models, which should be viewed as preventative therapies. This article provides evidence that first-hand accounts can offer new insights into how such interventions are experienced by those involved. Andrea MacLeod and Paula Johnston argue that future research in this area should seek to employ participatory methodologies.     

‘It was as useful as a chocolate kettle’: sex education in the lives of same‐sex‐attracted young people in Australia

Sex education is a contested site in the school curriculum as communities grapple with who should teach young people about sex and how it should be taught. In this paper we ask whether same‐sex‐attracted young people are being exposed to appropriate and relevant sex education at school, and if they are not whether it is necessary that sex education be inclusive of sexual difference. In the second Australian survey of 1749 same‐sex‐attracted youth of 14–21 years old, we ask young people about sex education classes at school, how useful they were for them, their sources of information regarding gay and lesbian relationships and safe sex, sexual behaviours and incidence of sexually transmissible infections and pregnancy. We find from the data that most of these young people found sex education to be useless because it was not inclusive. In comparison with normative studies, these young people were, on average, sexually active earlier, had higher rates of diagnosed sexually transmissible infections and at least as high an incidence of pregnancy. We conclude from the data that there is a need for sex education in schools to be inclusive of the sexuality of all students, not just those who are attracted to the opposite sex.     

SELF‐ACTUALIZATION IN GIFTED AND AGGRESSIVE YOUNG PEOPLE

A total of 80 students aged seventeen and eighteen (40 in each group) selected from several secondary schools took part in the study. It was assumed that the intensity of self‐acceptance among gifted young people is positively influenced by intellectual success, as well as by the following personality traits: internal locus of control, average or low level of anxiety, strong sensation seeking. There was a trend towards higher self‐actualization among gifted students (although statistically insignificant), while self‐actualizing students had an internal locus of control and a need for stimulation and varied experience. The assumption that lower anxiety and higher self‐acceptance are characteristic of young people with higher self‐actualization was not confirmed, which suggests that there is a need to intensify parents' and teachers' support for students coping with difficulties.     

Moving beyond the minimum: socially just pedagogies and Asperger’s syndrome in UK higher education

A year‐long longitudinal study was conducted to gain insight into the lives of eight students who had a label of Asperger’s syndrome during their transitions into higher education in the UK. Reflecting on life history data, the findings suggest that universities might actually be maintaining and (re)producing barriers that perpetuate the exclusion and ghettoisation of disabled people. The analysis goes beyond an acknowledgement of institutional disabling practices to pinpoint the subtle impacts of issues of pedagogy, learning, teaching, and assessment. It is argued, therefore, that inclusive education needs to engage more directly with the specific issues faced by learners with the label of Asperger’s syndrome. However, rather than viewing this as an issue of special education for distinctly impaired learners, Asperger’s syndrome must be understood with reference to wider questions of how higher educators respond to diversity and difference.     

Supporting Self-Regulated Learning for College Students with Asperger Syndrome: Exploring the “Strategies for College Learning” Model

In this study, I piloted the feasibility, effects, and perceived acceptability of a peer mentoring intervention targeting academic achievement and self-regulated learning (SRL) for three college students with Asperger syndrome. The approach, dubbed Strategies for College Learning (SCL), features individualized assessment of academic performance in target courses and direct instruction of learning and self-regulation strategies under the provision of a peer mentor. The pilot study resulted in successful implementation of SCL and the acquisition of numerous learning strategies among participants. Qualitative data indicated participants felt SCL was both useful and acceptable. As the incidence of autism spectrum disorders increases, so has the need to accommodate students with highly individualized learning needs. The pilot is among the first to explore peer mentoring as an approach at bolstering SRL and academic achievement for college students with Asperger syndrome. The limitations of the study are discussed as well as implications for future research and practice.     

‘A planet of confusion and debate’: children's and young people's response to the news coverage of Pluto's loss of planetary status

Despite calls that the school science curriculum should develop among students an ability to understand and respond critically to science‐related media reports, very little research has been directed toward an important matter relevant to that aim, namely, how children and young people, untutored, react to science in the news. This study sought, in the context of media coverage of the debate surrounding the planetary status of Pluto, to explore this issue. A questionnaire, completed by 350 students aged between eight and 18, showed just over half of the children and young people were able to write relevantly about the subject though it was the gist not the detail of the story they recounted. There was evidence, nonetheless, that this media‐acquired information functioned as active rather than passive knowledge. Students demonstrated relatively few misconceptions and those presented were predominately pre‐existing rather than media‐derived. As with the wider public, many of the children and young people held strong opinions on Pluto's loss of planethood. Such responses diminished with age, however, with older students expressing a degree of indifference. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications of the research findings for science instruction.     

‘Due to all this fear,we’re getting less freedom’: young people’s understandings of gender and sexual violence in New Delhi,India

This paper explores young people’s understandings of gender and sexual violence in New Delhi, India, based on multi-method research conducted with young people (aged 15–17) in three co-educational secondary schools. Fieldwork took place shortly after the 2012 Delhi gang rape that sparked widespread debates about violence against women in India, and so sexual violence became an important frame for students’ discussions around gender and sexuality. Young people’s understandings are considered within gender narratives – of ‘can-do’ and ‘vulnerable’ girlhood, and of ‘hero’ and ‘good boy’ masculinities – which already shaped their day-to-day experiences of schooling. Findings suggest that tensions arising from these often contradictory narratives led to frustrations among girls, while the dominance of conversations about sexual violence led to confusions in both girls’ and boys’ understandings of sexuality. Reflections are offered on ways schools can better support young people as they learn about gender and sexuality from diverse and contradictory sources.     

Computers and School: Indian and French students' discourse

The use of digital technologies by young people and the impact of e-learning have been the subject of a significant number of studies carried out worldwide. However, when it comes to student perceptions about the place and role of these technologies in their lives, research looks towards university students. This article aims to understand what the technologies represent for school students in their personal and school lives. It is based on a study that brings together two contexts, representing opposing cultures and trends: France where the policy on school computers has been in place for more than two decades and India where the government has only recently begun to make efforts to overcome the digital divide. This study conducted in the two countries in 2009 among 960 young people aged between 11 and 18 shows the importance of schools in constructing private spaces to be shared with peers, a role that has long been attributed to home computers. This article thus provides elements of explanation for the relative disenchantment that young people feel for the school-related uses of the technologies. For them, school is not about individualist autonomous learning, but about learning from teachers as a group.     

The use of ‘Circle of Friends’ strategy to improve social interactions and social acceptance: a case study of a child with Asperger's Syndrome and other associated needs

The study outlined here was an attempt to examine the use of ‘Circle of Friends’ as a single intervention approach in addressing the issue of inappropriate social interactions in a child with Asperger Syndrome. The child selected was in a mainstream setting, as the main feature of a circle of friends is peers supporting peers. The child was involved in the selection of peers for the development of the circle of friends and it was hoped the approach would challenge children's attitudes in relation to the child with Asperger Syndrome and also improve social understanding for the focus child. The results clearly indicated that the intervention had been successful in reducing the stigma around ‘difference’ for the focus child and it was clearly evident that the ‘circle of friends’ approach had provided a much needed network of social support in a mainstream school. The conclusion highlighted that the focus child was able to understand far more easily the ‘hidden curriculum’ that neuro‐typical children find so easy to decipher.     

Perception of Environmental Problems by Young People in Poland

The perception of environmental problems by young people is of great importance for two reasons: first, in the near future they will have a great influence on the running of business and, second, knowing what they think about environmental issues will help to establish better pro‐environmental education among them. Therefore, studies on the perception of environmental problems among Polish students were undertaken. We intended to characterise and compare the perception of environmental problems by young people from different universities. These were the Environmental Faculty of the University of Maria Curie Sklodowska in Lublin and the Technical Faculty of the Technical University of Lublin. The results of our research showed that students from both schools are aware of environmental problems, but the more pro‐ecological group was students studying protection of the environment.     

Public discourse on HIV and AIDS: an archival analysis of national newspaper reporting in Uganda, 1996–2011

Uganda is recognised as an early success story in the HIV epidemic at least in part due to an open and vigorous national dialogue about HIV prevention. This study examined the national discourse about HIV, AIDS, and young people in New Vision, Uganda's leading national newspaper between 1996 and 2011, building from a previous archival analysis of New Vision reporting by Kirby (1986–1995). We examined the continuing evolution in the public discourse in Uganda, focusing on reporting about young people. An increase in reporting on HIV and AIDS occurred after 2003, as antiretroviral treatment was becoming available. While the emphasis in newspaper reporting about adults and the population at large evolved to reflect the development of new HIV treatment and prevention methods, the majority of the articles focused on young people did not change. Articles about young people continued to emphasise HIV acquisition due to early and premarital sexual activity and the need for social support services for children affected by HIV and AIDS. Articles often did not report on the complex social conditions that shape HIV-related risk among young people, or address young people who are sexually active, married, and/or HIV-infected. With HIV prevalence now increasing among young people and adults in Uganda, greater attention to HIV prevention is needed.     

Economic independence for adolescents with special educational needs

Do young men and women diagnosed with special educational needs succeed in finding full‐time employment that provides sufficient income to live on? The analyses presented in this paper are based on interviews conducted between October 2001 and April 2002 of nearly 500 young people with various types of disabilities. The young people who were interviewed have been studied prospectively since they entered upper secondary school as special needs students six or seven years earlier. These adolescents are followed through a critical phase of life when they are trying to find their way in society as adult individuals. This process is gradual and involves making tentative steps in various arenas. A crucial topic is how these young men and women, between 23 and 25 years of age, succeed in gaining employment that allows them to become economically independent. This is a vulnerable process for most youth, but it is especially challenging for young people with functional difficulties who have experienced protracted and disjointed transitions throughout their educational trajectories.     

Secondary School Students’ Epistemic Insight into the Relationships Between Science and Religion—A Preliminary Enquiry

A number of previous studies have shown that there is a widespread view among young people that science and religion are opposed. In this paper, we suggest that it requires a significant level of what can be termed “epistemic insight” to access the idea that some people see science and religion as compatible while others do not. To explore this further, we draw on previous work to devise a methodology to discover students’ thinking about apparent contradictions between scientific and religious explanations of the origins of the universe. In our discussion of the findings, we highlight that students’ epistemic insight in this context does seem in many cases to be limited and we outline some of the issues emerging from the study that seem to boost or limit students’ progress in this area.     

Examining the conflict and interconnectedness of young people’s ideas about environmental issues,responsibility and action

Objective: Young people’s environmental views are typically conflicted, with little recognition of the links between environmental issues or between environmental responsibility and action. The purpose of this study was to clarify whether young people’s understanding of the environment is in conflict or whether they are forming interconnections between issues, responsibility and action that have not yet been identified. Methods: Data relating to environmental attitudes, responsibility, issues and action was collected from 305 high school students in south east Queensland. Regression analyses were used to identify variables that influenced the importance young people placed on environmental issues and actions. Results: Young people’s ideas about environmental responsibility influenced the level of importance they placed on global warming and resource consumption. Young people’s sense of hope and hopelessness were the main drivers of their endorsement of individualistic and political actions for the environment. Conclusions: The unifying factor that influenced young people’s ideas about the environment was a sense of hope. Thus, while young people may already be intuiting their own sense of environmental interconnectedness, it is essential that this is expanded so that young people recognise the links between environmental issues, and the logical pathways that lead from environmental responsibility to action.     

Life at university with Asperger syndrome: a comparison of student and staff perspectives

Although increasing numbers of students with disabilities are accessing higher education, there is relatively little information about the needs of students with Asperger syndrome (AS). Crucially, students themselves have rarely been included in research examining their needs or the supports they might find helpful. Three focus groups, one with students with AS and two with staff were conducted to explore the challenges, barriers and supports to students' successful progress through one university in the UK. Thematic analysis revealed some key differences between staff and student perspectives, particularly with regard to impact of sensory sensitivities and daily life difficulties on academic progress. Students and staff also held differing views about what is helpful, relating to disclosure of diagnosis and the value of formal social supports. The study highlights the importance of developing services beyond traditional academic supports that students with AS themselves feel are valuable.