ERIC Number: EJ1405955
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 14
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: EISSN-1471-3802
Available Date: N/A
Happier on the Outside? Discourses of Exclusion, Disempowerment and Belonging from Former Autistic School Staff
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, v24 n1 p39-52 2024
Autistic individuals can have poor outcomes from school, including high rates of unemployment. Despite a growing focus on the work experiences of autistic people, and various approaches to remediate the difficulties they undergo, the school sector remains largely unexplored, as are the insights available from former autistic employees. In a discourse analysis of 12 former autistic school staff previously in a range of roles in the UK, the multiple and intersecting issues they experienced are analysed. These reveal different forms of marginalisation, disempowerment, invisibility and exclusion at play, including in relation to being autistic, before the final departure. However, participant discourses also demonstrate important autistic aptitudes of particular benefit to pupils at risk of marginalisation themselves, and provide insights into how autistic staff--including visiting professionals--can be better supported in the school sector in the future. Such steps could provide significant benefits for the education field generally, especially in relation to the inclusion of autistic and otherwise neurodivergent pupils.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, School Personnel, Autism Spectrum Disorders, Special Schools, Experience, Social Isolation, Barriers, Group Membership, Interpersonal Relationship, Individual Power, Power Structure, Disadvantaged, Disabilities, Teachers, Social Support Groups, Occupational Mobility
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www-wiley-com.bibliotheek.ehb.be/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A