Exploring the experiences of primary to secondary transition for children with Autism – student, teacher & parental perspectives (Student Project)

2017, Research, Student Project, Supporting Educational Transitions / By

Keri Hoy.

BSc Education and Psychology.

I’m Keri Hoy, I am currently in my final year of a BSc Education and Psychology. As part of my course, I am carrying out a dissertation titled ‘exploring the experiences of primary to secondary transition for children with Autism – student, teacher & parental perspectives’ This is a key research area as findings suggest that negative transitions can have long lasting negative effects on students’ attainment and wellbeing, and individuals with autism are particularly vulnerable during the transition to secondary school. There is a lack of research which directly elicits the views of young people with autism, as well as including the views of multiple key stakeholders. My project aims to address this current gap in the literature by hearing from students, parents and teachers, to provide them with a voice. My project aims to explore the following research questions:

  1. What are the views and experiences of young people on the autism spectrum about their transition from primary to secondary school? What has helped? What has hindered? What else could be done to support these young people?
  2. What are the views of parents and teachers about the transitions of young people on the autism spectrum from primary to secondary school? What has helped? What has hindered? What else could be done to support these young people?
  3. What support can be given to parents and teachers to enable them to support children through the transition?

A case study of one school will be conducted. A photovoice activity will be used with multiple students with autism, in which they will be asked to take photographs of areas of their school that they like/dislike, or find helpful/unhelpful. In-depth interviews will then be conducted with these students, as well as their parents/carers, and a member of staff who works closely with them.  We hope that this will provide a rich overall picture of the experiences of the primary to secondary school transition for students with autism. You can read in detail about the project’s findings here.