Practicing Epistemic Collaboration in Transformative Inclusive Research With Students With ASD

• In Event: Centering the Voices of Disabled Learners

Abstract

The paper presents the qualitative step of a mixed methods study conducted with students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in five schools in the Tuscany region, located in central Italy (Europe), in 2023-2024. Data collection included ethnographic observations in schools, interviews with 12 parents, focus groups with 36 secondary school teachers, and interviews with 20 labour market professionals. The research included 12 focus groups with students with ASD.
The analysis of the findings, prompted by the invitation to rethink just educational renewal, aims to analyse how teachers and students embrace and resist the medicalisation of autism in schools, and offers insights into strategies for overcoming biases due to remedial and reparative approaches in inclusive transformative research with people with ASD.

Authors

• Alessandra Romano, University of Siena

• Francesca Bulletti, University of Siena

• Saskia Eschenbacher, Akkon University of Applied Sciences

• Fengzhan Gao, Education University of Hong Kong

• Kuen Fung Kenneth Sin, The Education University of Hong Kong

• Lan Yang, Education University of Hong Kong

• Deborah J. Kramlich, Christliche Deutsche Schule Chiang Mai