Leveling Up Regulatory Support Through Community Collaboration

Abstract

Purpose No group has more stake in the game than the community that researchers, educators, and practitioners aim to serve. In our field, we must recognize not only that autistic people are those most affected by decisions around programming and policies, but that they are key informants in decisions around the conceptualization, implementation, and evaluation of educational programming for autistic learners. Too often, they are left out of these discussions altogether. To illustrate the process of community collaboration, we discuss emotional and energy regulation (ER), a top priority among autistic people based upon their viewpoints. Method In this clinical focus article, we outline what emotional regulation is, why it is relevant and often challenging for the autistic population, the shortcomings of current practice, as well as practical strategies and ways of thinking about supporting ER for autistic learners. We provide theoretical insights as well as firsthand accounts from a diverse group of autistic people. Each autistic person contributing their perspective in this clinical focus article provided written consent for their participation, as well as direction as to how they wanted to be cited and acknowledged. Quotes were gathered from personal communications, social media posts, and online sources. The clinical viewpoint and materials and tools presented throughout the clinical focus article are the works of the authors that have been informed by the autistic community. Results Based upon the qualitative data presented in this clinical focus article, incorporating the autistic community voice when devising tools and strategies is validating of their experiences and generates useful supports. Conclusions Using a framework similar to the one presented here for engaging the autistic community will help to facilitate the conceptualization of more reliable, valid, and effective supports, goal-setting, and programming overall. Future directions related to the value of empirical study of the tools and strategies developed through such a process are offered.