Conference Agenda

In 2021, one in every 127 people were estimated to be on the autism spectrum globally (Santomauro et al., 2021). The number of autistic students at university increasing both in the UK and Europe (Gormley et al, 2024, HESA, 2024). Universities have embraced a culture of inclusivity and diversity when recruiting students, including for professional degrees (degree study that includes practice-based learning (PBL) and which is likely to result in accreditation to a profession-specific body). Autistic students face significant and unique barriers in both academic and PBL (Cheriyan et al., 2021) and have large attrition rates. Placement experiences affect students’ intention to persist with their studies and employment plans after graduation (Pesonen et al, 2021). Additionally, speech and communication lie at the heart of teaching and learning since they are one of the main ways teachers provide instruction and support their students as well as being the means through which most students engage and are assessed. This has implications for autistic students since they are likely to experience challenges with social communication and interaction (DSM-5 TR, APA 2022).

Our actual and perceived ability to communicate ‘effectively’ (including understanding verbal and non-verbal communication) is influenced by our intersectional experiences, cultural differences and other factors including neurotype. Awareness and adaptation of one’s own communication skills is a key part of practice education including speech and language therapy (SaLT) (Dantuma, 2021). For autistic SaLT students, the core interactional differences between autistic and neurotypical people can pose both challenges and opportunities for those practicing in a majority neurotypical society. However, SaLT, whose aim is to maximise an individual’s communication potential, has been traditionally and historically rooted in a conventional medical paradigm (Pellicano and Houting, 2022) in contrast to the social model of disability, which attributes barriers to environmental and cultural factors. Although listening to neurodivergent perspectives can progress equity and deconstruct ableism, research exploring the views, priorities and experiences autistic students have of their interactions within these social and physical environments (i.e. education and employment) is still emerging. Given this context, we wanted to explore the experience and perceptions of PBL from the perspective of students and recently qualified autistic SaLTs, and their placement educators (some of whom will themselves be autistic). We posed the following research questions:

1. What challenges and support do autistic SaLT students experience during PBL?

2. How much do autistic SaLT students perceive these PBL experiences contribute to their motivation and identity?

3. What suggestions for support and reasonable adjustments do autistic SaLT students identify during PBL?

By posing the above questions, we set out to address the following objectives:

• To identify effective ways to support placement educators in meeting the needs of this group of students;

• To produce recommendations and resources to support the practice-based education of autistic SaLTs;

• To share the information gained to enable the above to be carried forward into/inform Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) and future workplaces.

Taking a neurodiverse affirming approach, the research adopts a critical realist paradigm (Bhaskar, 1975) to examine lived realities and the internal and external factors contributing to these. Tension between neurotypical standards deemed ‘professional’ and neurodivergent ways of being are likely to impact engagement and identity and are therefore interrogated by applying the social determination theory of motivation (Mylrea et al, 2017). Examining autistic SaLT students and practitioners and their placement educators’ experiences of competence, relatedness and autonomy - including how they shape their motivation and identity -has relevance across HEI disciplines, particularly practice-based disciplines like SaLT, given the fact that communication underpins teaching, learning and assessment in all fields of education and practice.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities underscores that ensuring equal opportunities in education, employment, and social participation for all members of society, particularly individuals with disabilities, represents a fundamental objective of contemporary social development. In the field of disability studies, there has been a notable shift from the traditional medical model to the social model, which conceptualizes disability as the outcome of societal, environmental, and cultural barriers.This paradigm shift reflects a move from understanding disability as a personal deficiency to recognizing the structural and social determinants that hinder full participation in society, thereby emphasizing the importance of social inclusion.Research on autism has long been focused on childhood, and although it is now increasingly recognized that autistic children become autistic adults and spend the majority of their lives as adults, their needs in employment, education, independent living, and social participation become more prominent.

This review aims to address these gaps by examining the theoretical evolution of social inclusion and applying a multidimensional framework to analyze the current social inclusion status of adults with ASD.Drawing on Ager and Strang’s widely cited framework and subsequent adaptations, social inclusion is conceptualized in three interrelated dimensions: structural inclusion, referring to access to resources and opportunities such as employment, education, housing, healthcare, and policy support; relational inclusion, reflecting the quality and breadth of social networks, community engagement, and interpersonal relationships; and identity inclusion, encompassing subjective perceptions of self, social belonging, life satisfaction, and psychological well-being. Using this framework, the review synthesizes empirical evidence on the structural, relational, and identity-related challenges faced by adults with ASD, including insufficient vocational and educational support, restricted independent living options, fragmented healthcare services, limited social networks, family-centered dependence, low community participation, collective loneliness, and diminished self-identity and life satisfaction. The findings highlight complex, interwoven barriers to social inclusion and provide theoretical and practical implications for designing age-appropriate, multidimensional support systems and evidence-based policies to promote social integration and well-being among adults with ASD.