Published on 12, July, 2020
Hi,
I am a student journalist at Nottingham Trent University. For my final year dissertation, I am doing a study and feature on autism and whether mainstream education caters for people on the spectrum.
I have two cousins with forms of autism so the subject is very close to my heart and something I feel does not get the coverage and exposure it should.
While I know there are many successful autism-only schools up and down the country, I am also aware of instances where mainstream schools have been unable to provide the children with the education they require.
Just wondering whether anybody on here has any stories of where their children have struggled at a regular school and why it was the case. Are teachers trained to deal with people on the spectrum or is it more the child struggles?
It would be of great help to me, if anybody that had suffered seriously with this subject in mind would chat with me briefly about their experience with mainstream education, or even on a lighter note a success story r.e. an autism-only school.
I look forward to speaking to some of you.
Cheers.
Matt Ball
I don't know as am adult rather than a child so possibly can't help
I can understand you are trrying to be informed, Matt, but people may feel they want to be helpful and disclose confidences, and you really cannot give such guarantees at undergraduate level.
Even if no names are given, what people might say to you could still identify them or services they have accessed. If you were a postgraduate you would have to present your research to an ethics committee, and you would have to demonstrate that you had followed procedures, including consent forms and assurances about disposal of data. It is well nigh impossible to do that at undergraduate level.
My big concern though is with your university. It is the one that most often crops up on here with undergraduates requesting research support. Most universities ban this behaviour. We mostly have three institutions that allow this, yours being the one most often doing it.
All the other universities in the UK do not do this.
Also what you are doing in a dissertation is demonstrating that you understand good research practice. What you are doing here is not good research practice. You cannot be certain that the people responding are genuine, whereas if you set up your sources properly you could demonstrate that all the respondents were bona fide.
As a graduate who had to complete a dissertation may I just point out that unless you are only asking yes/no questions you will have to use quotes from your 'sources' in order to get a decent mark.
Ergo you're already providing misleading information to people on this forum.
You mean well, but more often than not the ends do not justify the means. Please don't get offended, but the way you are coming across is rather forceful with little consideration to the members of this particular forum, who (whether we like it or not) are vulnerable.
You are also dismissive of a perfectly valid response, further adding toe impression you are not an impartial researcher and worse someone willing to dismiss the views of someone on the spectrum because they have called you out on perfectly valid concerns for this community.
Please do some research on how important routine, structure and adherence to rules is for those of us with ASD and reconsider your attitude. You are a guest, do not presume to know the territory better than the natives.
Apologies for any spelling mistakes as I'm trying to use my phone to respond.
Advertising the results of research is one thing, actually using the forum to collect data is something else.
I have asked the mods to clarify whether this request has been approved.
Firstly, I could personally guarantee that anyone that wished to remain nameless, would be so in any published work I produce.
I don't think it is fair to assume something of me just because you may have received 'bad press' from other Trent students in the past.
I can understand if you aren't comfortable sharing with a complete stranger, especially one that is only 21 years old but all I was trying to do is add to my research.
I am not looking for quotes, I was merely looking for something that may aid my study.
It isn't the most ethical way of doing things, you are completely right in that respect but this is a large group of people with a personal interest in my subject, it would be silly not to try and widen my research through here.
Notice I have given the power to the community users rather than trying to message people directly.
And FYI, I did seek approval from the NAS first and they said it was fine to advertise my research on here.
This is a peer support environment, supposedly safe, and therefore not appropriate for students as a quarry for dissertations; besides which the forum rules require you to seek approval of the Moderators for research. Unfortunately your university is a perstent abuser of the site, which is a sad reflection on the quality of Higher Education being offered there.
In an undergraduate dissertation you cannot ensure confidentiality - dissertation and data lie around a lot after completion, and even with encoding information gathered this way can identify both persons and services. You are asking people to confide their personal experiences just for you to do your dissertation, it is so unethical.
Most decent universities don't do this. They properly advise their students on research ethics. Your university just seems to troll helplines mercilessly.
Interestingly the psychology department recently did a seminar entitled "How well can people with autism read minds, and how well can other people read the minds of those with autism". Doesn't inspire confidence. Should stick to bricklaying and hairdressing.