Does Handwriting Matter? Measuring Autistic Students’ Written Expression Skills

Studying at a university can provide students with better opportunities of employment. However, autistic people are more likely to be unemployed after graduating than their non-autistic peers. Many university programs include integral internships/placements that require students to engage with the world of work including recruitment and selection processes. While it is known that autistic people often face difficulties in workplace settings generally, this study sought to explore how autistic students at a high-ranking UK university experienced work and employment processes and settings. We collected the reflections of 12 autistic students, who had been engaging with work and employment processes and work organizational settings during their time as university students, via an in-depth qualitative survey comprising 25 questions. This provided data that, via analysis, offer a composite subjective voice for autistic people receiving disability support services provided by universities. We identified four key themes. First, the reflections of these autistic students revealed a confident awareness of skills/talents that their autism enabled them to offer to employers. Second, the analysis revealed that the support offered by the university to provide employability support to autistic students was bureaucratically structured such that it might be experienced as unhelpfully fractured. Third, autistic students often felt that support while working away from the university campus (e.g., on an internship/placement) was somewhat deficient. Fourth, the data revealed that autistic students can clearly articulate the deficiencies of the support provided to them and how those deficiencies might be addressed to enhance their employability skills and, by extension, their opportunities for success in the labor market. Autistic students would benefit from their universities adopting a more holistic approach to supporting them by engaging with (potential) employers and coworkers. Specifically, there is a need for university disability support workers to develop their knowledge and skills in careers and employability matters. They should aim to develop these to a level similar to that of university careers support workers. There is also a need for autistic students to be better supported while away from campus at a work placement. Autistic people often face discrimination in the workplace. More autistic people are going to university and may study on a program that has a work internship built in, requiring them to compete in recruitment and selection processes that are known to be problematic for many autistic people. While universities offer support to autistic students, it is not well known how that support is experienced in relation to employability skills development and while working as an intern. The study aimed to present the experiences of autistic students of applying for work, including internships, and working. It also aimed to present what autistic students thought about their future careers. Another purpose of the study was to provide recommendations to universities on providing support to autistic students on employability and employment. We developed an in-depth survey of 25 questions and distributed it to all autistic students receiving disability support at a UK university. Twelve autistic students responded, providing a set of authentic testimonies about employability skills development, employment experiences, support received, and support they would have liked to have received. The autistic students reported confidence in the skills and talents they could offer an organization. The autistic students also reported that the employment and employability support provided by the University was often unhelpfully fragmented. This was because different support teams provided different types of support. Autistic students also felt that support was somewhat deficient when they were working as interns away from their university campus. The autistic students clearly articulated how support might be better provided for them by the university. For example, they might receive specific support with preparing for a job interview as an autistic person, and might receive good advice on managing anxieties in the workplace. While previous research has shown that autistic students typically benefit from having a single point of support at university, this study highlights that this is particularly important when it comes to support when seeking employment and when in employment as a student, particularly when working away from campus. Our study is limited to autistic students from just one high-ranking and high-tariff university in the United Kingdom. As such, they may not be entirely representative of students at other universities and in other countries with different disability support systems and employment protections for autistic people. The findings will help universities to improve their disability support service for autistic students. The findings point to a need for universities to adopt a more holistic service, more focused on the individual employment and employability needs of the autistic student. By adopting recommendations to better support autistic students seeking work and in work, autistic students will more likely find suitable and fulfilling employment when they leave university.

Students with autism may struggle to develop the academic skills necessary for success in school and beyond. Understanding and improving academic skills performance requires appropriate measurement approaches. One such option that has been minimally studied with students with autism is curriculum‐based measurement (CBM). Coinciding with the need to study different approaches to academic skills measurement for students with autism was the global pandemic which forced a shift to remote service delivery with little warning. While some autistic students struggled with this shift, others thrived, raising questions about how to further support students with autism in virtual formats. The purpose of this study was to examine the feasibility of using remotely administered CBM for autistic students by studying both the practicality and acceptability of this approach. Five students with autism (Grades 2–5) participated in this pilot study, completing reading, math, and writing CBMs at three time points. Student behavior and assessor fidelity were collected to examine practicality; assessor ratings of usability provided insight regarding the acceptability of the approach. Results indicated that remotely administered CBM is feasible for some students with autism: all participants completed the study tasks with minimal behavioral difficulties, and assessor ratings of acceptability were high.

This study aims to understand experiences of inclusion for autistic school students. The study reports on findings from three surveys, one conducted in 2021 with the general population (N = 1983) and two conducted with parents/carers of autistic school students, one in 2020 (N = 2212) and one in 2021 (N = 528). The general population had a favourable attitude towards autistic students receiving supports in school. However, the lived experience of autistic students, as reported on by their parents, highlighted significant gaps in the provision of support. Qualitative data from the 2021 survey with parents of autistic students found that system-level challenges were pervasive, and a lack of inclusion and support caused significant harm to autistic students. Although the perspective is that of the parent rather than the student, this study may provide insight into the experiences of autistic students who otherwise may not engage with traditional research methods. Future research should seek to hear directly from autistic students themselves and to explore case study examples of schools that are excelling in the area of supporting autistic students. These exemplars could be used to advocate for the provision of support in schools and referred to in professional development for school leaders and teachers.Lay abstractThis study explored the experiences of inclusion for autistic students in Australian schools. Our survey in 2021 with the general public (N = 1983) found that people agree that autistic students should receive support in schools. Our surveys with parents of autistic students, one in 2020 (N = 2212) and another in 2021 (N = 528), found many barriers within the school system that make it hard for autistic children to feel included and supported. This lack of support negatively impacts the well-being of autistic children. It is important to note that this study focused on the perspectives of parents, not the students themselves. Future research should identify and learn from schools that are doing a great job supporting autistic students. These examples could be used to advocate for better support for all autistic students and to help train educators to be more effective in meeting the needs of these students.

Autistic young people often struggle to cope with the daily demands of school and are likelier to experience poorer wellbeing and educational outcomes than their non-autistic peers. Among other factors, this may be because mainstream settings are unsuitable for individuals' sensory needs. Evidence suggests the unpredictable multi-sensory nature of school can elicit sensory distress, adversely affecting behaviour and learning. However, existing literature has primarily taken a top-down deductive approach and largely neglected autistic voices. The present study, therefore, employed a participatory approach and photo-voice semi-structured interview method to explore autistic students' sensory experiences in a mainstream secondary school in the U.K. The sample consisted of six students aged 12-16 years with a clinical diagnosis of autism attending a state comprehensive school in Suffolk, U.K. Through reflexive thematic analysis, three main themes were identified: (1) impact of the school environment; (2) the importance of safe spaces and (3) levels of support and understanding. This study's findings suggest autistic students are routinely overstimulated, overwhelmed and lack adequate support to overcome sensory barriers in mainstream settings. This study has implications for further participatory research and inclusive practice to ensure better educational experiences and outcomes for autistic young people.Lay AbstractAutistic young people often struggle to manage and respond to sensory stimuli within the school environment, impacting wellbeing, energy levels and the ability to learn. We asked six autistic students aged 12-16 years about their sensory experiences at secondary school. Specifically, we asked students to photograph areas in school that they positively and negatively associated with sensory stimulation, and follow-up interviews focused on these photographs and individuals' sensory experiences. Many studies previously examined the sensory impact of school on autistic children. However, few studies have considered how autistic children think and feel about how their sensory differences affect them in school. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate autistic students' firsthand accounts of sensory challenges within a secondary state school in the U.K. Students spoke about the detrimental effects of the school environment on their sensory needs and the importance of quiet spaces to recharge. Students also described a lack of consistent and adequate support to overcome daily sensory barriers. Generally, participants desired acceptance and understanding of their autistic identity and differences. This study has implications for future practice and research. With increasing numbers of autistic children attending mainstream schools, central and local governments must increase funding and support to equip schools and staff with the necessary training and resources to meet autistic students' sensory needs. Increased provision of quiet rooms and low-cost environmental modifications (such as replacing fluorescent lighting) may also reduce sensory distress. Despite its complexities, empowering autistic young people to have their say is essential and may improve long-term outcomes.

Background: Parents have long held an important role in their autistic children’s lives. As autistic individuals enroll in higher education institutions at much higher rates, new issues emerge. In particular, autistic college students and their parents must reconcile the major transition with the extent to which parents must be involved and exert their influence. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study: This phenomenological study set in a community college aimed to answer this question: How do autistic students, their parents, and college staff make meaning of parental involvement during autistic students’ transitions into postsecondary education? Parental involvement is of great relevance not only to autism-specific college support programs, such as the one featured in this study that helps students and parents negotiate these relationships, but also to colleges writ large. To disentangle the nuanced elements of parental involvement, I incorporated interdependence theory that explores the impacts of each stakeholder group’s outcomes on one another. Uncovering these dynamics may help in identifying realistic solutions that honor stakeholders’ various priorities and allow autistic students to leverage greater agency in their college journeys. Research Design: This study was set in a community college boasting an autism-specific college support program featuring programming to support autistic learners in their college experiences, inclusive of issues around independence and advocacy. Employing a descriptive phenomenological approach allowed for deconstructing the nuanced interactions among parents, adult autistic children navigating college, and college staff. Here parental involvement served as the phenomenon of focus. Participants included 13 autistic college students, 5 mothers, and 15 college staff. Students engaged in surveys, interviews, observations, and written reflections, whereas mothers and college staff participated in interviews. Conclusions/Recommendations: Parents and their children—autistic college students—must constantly re-evaluate and recalibrate their relationships as students gradually gain more independence. This study illuminates how institutional supports and stakeholders, including those associated with the autism-specific college support program, enable autistic college students to demonstrate growth in their agency. This study puts forward many recommendations for varied stakeholders, including, but not limited to, elevating self-advocacy training in forming students’ transition plans (high school personnel) and engaging in role-playing activities (parents and children). Regarding future research, takeaways call for longitudinal work to track autistic students’ distinct presentations of independence over time, as well as embedding journals or other reflective materials for parents to make sense of their communication patterns with their children.

Background and aimsGathering Autistic young people's testimony is critical for understanding their lived experience of education and designing settings in which these students can thrive. Despite increasing knowledge in this field, we lack perspectives from a broad range of Autistic students which necessarily limits our ability to build inclusive, supportive environments for all. This study explored the educational experiences of preschool and school-aged Autistic students from diverse age groups, backgrounds, and educational settings.MethodsThirty-six Autistic students (aged 4–18 years) from Chinese, Vietnamese, Somali, Lebanese, and White Australian backgrounds shared their thoughts and experiences of their education. Through semi-structured interviews, students told their stories using words and pictures. Interview transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis.ResultsStudents described experiencing significant overwhelm within education settings, which led them to value access to safe spaces and having autonomy over decisions in their school day. A strong sense of fairness and justice was reported with students frustrated by inequitable application of school rules, as well as being discouraged by educators’ low expectations of them. Students preferred teachers who were clear and direct in their communication and genuinely cared about them as individuals. Students were mindful of others’ differences and perspectives, striving for mutual respect and friendship with their peers.ConclusionsFindings from this research indicate that to thrive academically, emotionally and socially, Autistic students need thoughtfully designed education settings with high expectations for every student, together with individualistic care from teachers.ImplicationsOur findings reinforce how classroom design and education practices must consider the needs of all students for Autistic students to thrive. From a practice perspective, promoting student autonomy around aspects of their educational environment—such as the ability to use headphones in class or provision of spaces in which to retreat to prevent or manage sensory/social overwhelm—could be “quick wins” for schools wanting to foster safer, more secure settings for Autistic learners. Broadly, educators should aim to embed as much certainty as possible into Autistic students’ educational environments to lay a solid foundation for learning. This foundation is likely to be most effective when educators are partners in discovery with each individual Autistic student, seeking to understand their unique strengths, needs, personalities and identities, and build trusting student–teacher relationships. While our research examined the perspectives of a diverse range of Autistic students, future research should attempt to elicit the educational experiences of both younger Autistic children (e.g., preschoolers) and non- or semi-speaking children, exploring methods suited to this purpose.

Higher education is an increasingly necessary achievement to attain employment. However, even in cases where a student has the academic skills to succeed, educational environments may not support students across all other domains necessary for education success, including social and communication needs. This is especially true for students with disabilities and autistic students, where the rate of completion of non-compulsory education is unknown. We used the Stockholm Youth Cohort (children aged 0–17 years from 2001 to 2011), a total population cohort (N = 736,180) including 3,918 autistic individuals, to investigate the association between autism without intellectual disability and completion of upper secondary education. We assessed the impact of sex and co-occurring Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) on this association. By age 20 years (the expected age of completion), 68% of autistic students and 91% of non-autistic students admitted to upper secondary education had completed. In logistic regression models adjusted for student demographics, autistic students had almost five-fold higher odds of not completing secondary school (OR 4.90, 95% CI 4.56 5.26) compared to their non-autistic peers. Autistic students with ADHD had particularly high odds of non-completion of upper secondary school. Autistic students without intellectual disability attending mainstream education are substantially less likely to complete upper secondary education as compared to their peers. These findings have implications for the appraisal of how inclusive school policies serve autistic students’ academic and social needs, ultimately addressing population health and independent living.

Background: Problems in the brain system result in autistic students exhibiting attention deficits when studying content outside of their special interest areas, which causes significant problems with their learning concentration. As a result of this concentration problem, it is difficult for autistic students to grasp the learning material provided by the teacher in class. The aim is to develop Video Game Therapy (V-GT) to address the issue of concentration in teaching autistic students. Method: This research is a Research and Development (R&D) type of study aimed at developing a product and testing the results of its development. The study population was autistic children aged 6-10 years who had low concentrations, and only had 5 children with autism. Samples were taken by proportional random sampling for autistic children in Surakarta with the Slovin formula, a significance of 0.10 Result: The results showed that, based on the due diligence, Video Games Therapy (V-GT) was categorized as very good. This means that it can be used for concentration therapy for autistic students. Testing the effectiveness of V-GT with the pre-post test shows that it can increase the learning concentration of autistic students. Conclusion: Development of Kinect-based Video Game Therapy (V-GT) to accommodate the convenience of autistic games, and the duration of the game is set so that autistic students can maximize their learning concentration.

We do not know very much about the writing skills of autistic university students. Studies with autistic children and teenagers show that some autistic young people have difficulties writing. Other autistic people are talented writers. In fact, some autistic people would rather write than speak. Good writers often imagine other people's points of view when writing. Autistic people sometimes have difficulties understanding others' points of view. Yet, autistic people often work much harder to understand others' points of view than not-autistic people do. We collaborated with autistic university student researchers to see if autistic university students are better or worse at writing than nonautistic students. Autistic university students in our study were better writers than nonautistic students. Autistic students in our study had higher nonverbal intelligence than nonautistic students. Autistic students also put themselves under more pressure to write perfectly than nonautistic students did. Autistic students did not show any difficulties understanding other minds. This study shows that some autistic university students have stronger writing skills and higher intelligence than nonautistic university students. Yet, autistic students may be too hard on themselves about their writing. Fun activities that help students explore their ideas without pressure (like theater games) may help autistic students be less hard on their writing. Teachers can help autistic students express themselves through writing by encouraging them to write about their interests, by giving them enough time to write, and by letting them write using computers if they want to. This study shows that collaborations with autistic people can help us understand strengths that can help autistic people succeed.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether flipped learning contributes to the development of preservice Turkish teachers’ written expression skills and, if it does, the extent of this contribution. To this end, first-year students attending the Turkish teaching department in a public university in Turkey were allocated to an experimental or a control group (35 students in each) on a volunteer basis, and an experimental study was conducted. In this study, the embedded mixed-research method was selected. In order to collect the quantitative data, samples of informative and narrative texts were used at the beginning and at the end of the term. The analyses revealed that the students in the experimental group demonstrated significantly higher development in the case of both types of texts than the control group students. In order to collect the qualitative data, three students from the experimental group and three students from the control group were selected, whose writing processes were video recorded and then analyzed each week. The findings obtained from the analysis of both the quantitative and the qualitative data revealed that flipped learning is highly effective in terms of developing preservice Turkish teachers’ written expression skills.

The prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) underscored the importance of tailoring educational interventions to accommodate the diverse needs of autistic students in Nigeria. This study investigated the effectiveness of individual educational programs in meeting the needs of autistic students in Nigeria. The study surveyed autistic children, teachers, and parents in special schools in Ikeja, Apapa, and Kosofe Local Government Areas of Lagos State. It used a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the effectiveness of Individual Education Programs (IEPs) in addressing the unique needs of autistic students in mainstream educational settings. The study analyzed academic performance metrics and social skills proficiency in autistic students. It also explored the experiences of teachers, parents, and autistic students through interviews and focus groups. Despite challenges like lack of resources and collaboration issues, teachers shared success stories and strategies. Parents praised positive efforts between home and school, while autistic students expressed improved learning experiences. The synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data provided a holistic evaluation of IEPs' effectiveness in promoting positive outcomes for autistic students. The findings contribute to the discourse on inclusive education, informing practices to refine IEP design and implementation. The study emphasizes providing meaningful educational support tailored to the diverse needs of autistic students in mainstream settings.

Reflecting the recognition of children’s right to have their views heard and acted upon in matters affecting them (UNCRC, 1989), Physical Education (PE) research has increasingly acknowledged the importance of listening to and valuing students’ voices. While autistic students’ voices have started gaining greater visibility in PE research, most of the existing studies rely primarily on verbal methods, excluding autistic children who use different forms of communication. Moreover, no research has yet involved autistic students in decisions shaping opportunities of being physically active within school. Drawing on a study with autistic students (n = 33) across three specialist provisions within three mainstream primary schools in Scotland, this paper describes and critically reflects on the methodological approach employed for including ‘voices’ that are traditionally unheard in PE research. Specifically, it describes how the Mosaic Approach and Lundy's model of children’s participation were brought together into a flexible multimodal methodological framework, involving observations, walking interviews, LEGO®, and sticky notes, to enable autistic children to share their PE experiences and play an active role in shaping their learning by designing a Physical Activity (PA) programme reflecting their interests, strengths, and needs. In doing so, the paper offers a reflective account that illuminates how methodological decisions and their implementation shape not only which voices and experiences are heard, but also whether we are ready to listen to what children wish to communicate.

Progress Monitoring

Working memory is an important skill for school success, and it involves holding information in our memory while using it to solve complex problems at the same time. Autistic children often have difficulty with working memory. Because working memory development can be easily influenced by many factors from a young age, it is important to find factors that help with autistic children's development. This study tested the factors that are related to autistic children's working memory when they start kindergarten and the factors that can help with rapid improvement throughout their elementary school. We used a nationally representative data set that followed the same group of children from kindergarten to fifth grade. We found that autistic students from backgrounds with more resources and students with advanced learning approaches such as being organized, being excited to learn, and paying careful attention to their work, started school with strong working memory. Autistic students with advanced learning approaches continued to make rapid improvements during the first 3 years, and then their growth slowed down during the last 3 years. Autistic students who had a good relationship with their teachers made rapid improvements during the last 3 years of their elementary school. In addition, autistic children who struggled with working memory upon school entry were more likely to receive special education services at school. These findings suggest that we need effective ways to teach young autistic children important learning-related behaviors from a very young age through the school system, and teachers must prioritize building positive relationships with their students.

Behavioral researchers have developed Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM) procedures that yield a rate measure (words read correctly per minute). Investigators have shown that words correct per minute provides a valid, reliable, and sensitive measure of reading proficiency in students. Recently researchers have developed additional rate measures designed to assess pre-reading skills (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) and skill development in advanced readers (reading comprehension rates). The current paper provides a rationale for both procedures and describes an emerging research base related to these measures. Limitations of these procedures along with directions for future research are provided. ********** Curriculum-based assessment (CBA) procedures have emerged as an alternative to traditional norm-referenced standardized achievement measures (Shapiro, 1996). Most CBA procedures use the student's current educational curricula to assess individual skills. Thus, CBA procedures assess what is taught and improve upon the lack of test-text overlap associated with norm-referenced standardized achievement tests (Bell, Lentz, & Graden, 1992; Martens, Steele, Massie, & Diskin, 1995; Shapiro & Derr, 1987). This characteristic of CBA addresses many legal, ethical, and educational concerns related to bias in assessment often associated with standardized tests (e.g., assessment results being overly dependent on extra-school learning). Because of CBA's overlap between what is taught and what is assessed, CBA procedures have clear relevance to instructional planning (Deno, 1989). For example, CBA measures can indicate skills or content students have mastered and areas that require additional work (see Skinner & Schock, 1995 for an applied example). A number of CBA models have been developed (Shapiro, 1990). Some CBA models focus on response accuracy (e.g., Gickling & Havertape, 1981) and others include criterion-referenced measures (e.g., Blankenship, 1985; Idol, Neven, & Paolucci-Witcomb, 1986). However, the model most closely associated with behavioral psychology is known as Curriculum-Based Measurement (CBM). Although CBM procedures have been developed for assessing a variety of skills including mathematics, spelling, and writing (see Deno & Mirkin, 1977 or Shapiro, 1996), the current paper will focus only on CBM reading procedures. After providing a brief overview, analysis, and research summary of traditional CBM reading measures, recent advances in CBM research will be described along with directions for future research. Words Correct Per Minute CBM reading procedures yield measures of oral reading fluency. During CBM assessment procedures, students read aloud for one minute from a passage within their reading text or series while the examiner marks errors (e.g., mispronunciations, substitutions, omissions, skipped lines). The examiner calculates two rate measures: words read correctly per minute and errors per minute (Deno & Mirkin, 1977; Shapiro, 1996). Typically, words correct per minute serves as the primary measure for making educational decisions (e.g., placement in the curricula, evaluation of intervention effectiveness). Researchers have shown that words correct per minute is a sensitive, reliable, and valid measure that can be used to assess students' general reading proficiency and to evaluate progress within students' reading curriculum (Deno, Mirkin, & Chiang, 1982; Fuchs & Deno, 1992; Fuchs & Fuchs, 1992; Fuchs, Fuchs, & Maxwell, 1988; Madelaine & Wheldall, 1999; Marston, 1989; Shinn, Good, Knutson, Tilly, & Collins, 1992). Several characteristics of CBM make words correct per minute ideal for assessing reading skills (Shapiro, 1996; Shinn, 1995). CBM procedures are brief and inexpensive. Multiple measures can be constructed from a student's curriculum. Because students are assessed using probes (i. …