Experiences of educational transition: young women with ASD, and the staff supporting them, speak

Jane Essex,Pauline Melham

doi:10.1111/1467-9604.12235

Abstract

AbstractThe article describes research into the factors that facilitate a smooth transition for young women with High Functioning Autism (HFA) as they move between secondary school and Sixth form or Further Education (FE) College. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with four young women with HFA and, additionally, with four members of education staff responsible for supporting young women with HFA, across a variety of school and FE settings. This research revealed that transition planning focuses almost exclusively on academic progression and is likely to be an ad hoc collection of arrangements, which places an undue burden of organisation upon parents and carers. The data suggests that, in order for transition to be successful, it needs to be systematically planned over an extended time period and to take into account the social, organisational, employment and residential elements which affect an individual's educational experience. The evidence also points to the importance of ‘taster’ experiences to inform decisions and prepare students for impending change. The final recommendation arising is that support for these students should continue to be sustained after transition points, being reduced only as the students settle into their new environment.

Highlights

A further problem that was revealed was that the important role of co-ordinating transition planning (Mitchell and Berrisford, 2014b) was not always assigned to a designated member of staff and commonly fell, by default, to the parents
The findings point to the need for transition to be managed strategically over an extended time period and in a way that incorporates the views of all key stakeholders
The data on curriculum choices supports the concept put forward by Krahn and Fenton (2012), along with Moyse and Porter (2015), that there is, instead, a different male and female phenotype for Autism. The results from this very small sample certainly suggest that the situation is far less clear cut than might be expected, and that extreme care should be exercised to avoid curtailing choices through prejudgements based on a diagnostic label. This small-scale research showed that the young women with Autism Spectrum Conditions (ASC) who were interviewed had concerns relating to educational transition, which corresponded to the range of difficulties which were associated with their ASC

Summary

Introduction

The presentation of these traits can be moderated by a range of factors, both intrinsic and extrinsic, which means that the management of social factors and educational environment can enhance their educational success Included in this population are individuals with average or above-average intelligence (Wing, 1997; Martin et al , 2008) who, despite their assessed intelligence, experience difficulties with executive functioning and difficulties with social forms of communication that are disproportionate to their intelligence and verbal abilities (Dawson et al , 2007). People with HFA struggle with the non-verbal aspects of social communication, frequently experiencing difficulty making eye contact or using gestures appropriately themselves and finding it difficult to interpret expression and body language in others (Frith, 1991; Baron-Cohen and Bolton, 1993). As with many other difficulties with the educational experience of people with HFA, the common lack of staff preparedness, which teachers report (Humphrey and Lewis, 2008), is likely to compound difficulties during transition

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