Supporting autistic students through university using a collaborative participatory research approach

越来越多的自闭症患者进入高等教育。过去几年出现了关于了解他们的经历和支持需求的研究，但很少有研究涉及多个利益攸关方(例如高等教育工作人员、辅导员)，并跨越国家。如此大规模的研究对于了解普遍的和特定于文化的经验、机会、挑战和支助需求是必要的，这将使决策者和支助提供者能够根据每一种社会文化背景提供更多的支助。本项目提出了上述合作参与式研究，自闭症学生和非自闭症学生在整个项目中的参与将确保所提出的措施具有针对性、实用性和可实施性。方法与设计将设计两个调查工具，分别识别自闭症学生和非自闭症学生的支持需求。自闭症和非自闭症学者、学生以及残疾和健康服务提供者将通过视频通话讨论仪器的设计，研究小组将提供便利。讨论将围绕评估和改进现有的支助和(或)开发新的支助，查明提供支助的障碍和促进者，以及策划减少高等教育中的耻辱和提高包容性的想法。研究结果将在更广泛的(例如全国范围)和更窄、更具体的层面(例如在特定的大学内)为政策和支持提供信息。因此，该项目是多方利益攸关方合作努力在全球范围内提高高等教育系统包容性的重要第一步。

Autistic people are entering higher education in increasing numbers. Research on understanding theirexperiences and support needs has emerged in the last few years, but few studies have involvedmultiple stakeholders (e.g. higher education staff, counsellors) and spanned across countries. Such largescaleresearch is necessary to understand universal versus culture-specific experiences, opportunities,challenges, and support needs, which would enable policy-makers and support-providers to makerelevant supports available according to each sociocultural setting. The present project proposes theexact abovementioned collaborative participatory research, and the involvement of autistic and nonautisticstudents throughout the project would ensure that proposed measures are relevant, useful, andimplementable.Methods & DesignTwo survey instruments will be designed, to separately identify support needs of autistic students andlearning needs of non-autistic students. Autistic and non-autistic academics, students, and disability andhealth service providers would discuss the design of the instruments via video calls which would befacilitated by the research team. Discussions would center around evaluating and improving existingsupports and/or developing new ones, identifying barriers and facilitators to providing supports, andcurating ideas to reduce stigma and improve inclusivity in higher education.Instruments will be validated before being disseminated to their relevant target audiences. Studyfindings would inform policies and supports both at a broader (e.g. country-wide) level and a narrower,more specific level (e.g. within a particular university). The project is thus an important first step towardsa multi-stakeholder collaborative effort in making higher education systems more inclusive on a globalscale.