Can digital pedagogy create real-world inclusion for autistic student outliers?

Marilyn Long

Keywords: autistic students, digital pedagogy, inclusive practice, marginalised learners

Existing research into the experience of autistic students engaged in online higher education is focused on the barriers created by social skills deficits and the perceptions of autistic challenges held by neurotypical staff. However, recent research examines social engagement difficulties in the context of loneliness and a sense of not belonging. The suggestion is that autistic persons are pre-disposed to experience loneliness more acutely and more frequently in comparison with neurotypical persons. My proposed research seeks to investigate whether this distinct nature of autistic loneliness is present in autistic students and the extent to which loneliness affects feelings of separateness from their peer group. It will examine the triadic relationship between feelings of being an outsider, the characteristic nature of loneliness, and deliberate disengagement from the group.

Collecting data through online surveys and focus groups will increase accessibility for online students who are already familiar with digital technologies and who have chosen a distance learning environment. Data collection using e-research methods are also more inclusive for a research participant group that may be challenged by face-to-face or synchronous interaction. The focus groups will also be conducted online, over a video-communication platform that allows for interaction using camera, microphone, or the chat pane, to support flexibility, choice, and autonomy within the process. The invited study participants will be current autistic students at the Open University, and the research project will be conducted by an autistic researcher. Online surveys will collect broad-based quantitative data to provide a contextual and demographic background on the experience of being an outsider within a community group, and its impact on developing a sense of belonging. Closed and multi-choice questions will prompt comparison between individual activities, group interactions, and group collaboration, with open-ended questions to gain deeper insights. The focus group discussions, informed in part by survey responses, will explore participant narratives of perceptions and realities of exclusion, developing a sense of belonging, and issues of loneliness. The experience of loneliness will be discussed in terms of being alone, of being left alone, of being excluded, and of withdrawing from the group. The impact of these states of loneliness will be further examined in the context of engagement, motivation, and activity focus.

Unacceptable levels of inequity and exclusion for marginalised student groups are inherent in higher education when there is a lack of adequate staff training and a failure to support the rights of students with protected characteristics. The gap in retention and achievement between autistic students and those not disclosing a ‘disability’ remains less favourable for autistic students. This is an important distinction for students outside this online academic community where autistic individuals also fail to be adequately and relevantly supported to achieve their potential. This research project will listen to autistic student narratives to compare the nature and impact of loneliness for this group as students within an academic online community. It will also investigate the barriers to access faced by autistic students from an outlier perspective within an online context. The results could offer a deeper understanding of the barriers to higher education for this marginalised and, in relation to a non-autistic majority, largely undervalued group. By considering autistic student challenges in real-world situations it has potential to influence the future for all marginalised student communities. And by considering the capacity of digital pedagogies to support student agency and autonomy it justifies further investigation into the feasibility of developing digital practice that targets shared preferences and specific challenges.