What makes for good practice in education for girls and women on the autism spectrum?
- Making effective support available
- Having a named person to go to
- Mentoring/buddy systems
- Life skills and social skills support
- Providing extra support at the start of college/university
- Making sure that needs assessments are carried out by staff with thorough training so that any support given is useful and individualised
- Use of a variety of teaching styles including use of visual aids
- Staff being willing to make reasonable adjustments
What are the constraints on this good practice?
- Large class sizes
- Emphasis on group project work in many courses
- Staff not following recommendations of needs assessments
- Huge social pressures
- Not knowing what support is available and where to access it
How could these constraints be overcome?
- Improving staff and student knowledge and understanding of the support systems available
- Offering alternatives to group work
- Arranging regular reviews with students
- Having Autism Champions in colleges and universities
