Autism is not a choice. Acceptance is.
These are the famous words of Stuart Duncan, the founder of Autcraft, a Minecraft server for children on the autism spectrum. Dublin City University are leading the way in this acceptance, having last week (Thursday, March 22nd) been recognised as the world’s first Autism-Friendly University by the autism advocacy charity, AsIAm.
This award marks the conclusion of an 18 month collaborative research project conducted by AsIAm, DCU and Specialisterne Ireland to discover what can be done to increase attendance and improve outcomes for autistic students at third level.
It comes after a study from the National Council for Special Education, conducted in 2016 found that 1.5% of the school population have autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
According to figures from the CSO, 43,987 students enrolled in full time and part time third level courses in 2017, meaning each year over 650 with ASD enrol in a third level institute in Ireland.
While students with ASD can be academically bright, research findings by DCU show that they encounter greater difficulties in the transition to university life and to a more independent learning environment than their peers.
Loneliness and isolation, anxiety in new social settings and difficulty meeting deadlines were some of the most common issues cited in the study conducted by DCU and AsIAm. Considering students with ASD most frequently enter university on courses in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM), the general difficulties they encounter may be a factor in high drop-out rates on some of these courses.
The autism-friendly university initiative in DCU aims to change all this and together with AsIAm a series of eight generic principles have been established to underpin the responsibility of the university towards its students with ASD.
These principles include establishing an autism-friendly environment, combating the stigma around autism, developing understanding and relevant skills within the university community and increasing the employability of autistic graduates.
A series of 43 actions have also been developed in conjunction with these principles to ensure that the autism-friendly campus becomes a reality.
At the start of each term all staff and on-campus support will receive a short training programme on autism awareness, a number of ‘quiet spaces’ will be established throughout the university and an annual Autism Inclusion Day will be held on the DCU campus.
This is a welcome undertaking in a country where 80% of people with autism are unemployed, despite many of them having excellent qualifications. Prof Brian MacCraith, President of Dublin City University said that, DCU is committed to providing opportunities to underrepresented groups in the education system and hopes “to provide the blueprint for others to follow” so that this will become a global movement.
Adam Harris, CEO AsIAm said that this is a timely initiative undertaken by DCU and that with younger autistic people emerging from second level education it is vital that third level institutes and the employment sector become more inclusive of the Autism community.