GLD E-portfolio
Leadership
Throughout my time at UofSC, I have been able to learn about autism in a variety of formats. Through learning it in the classroom with different foci, to comparing and contrasting this information in my research, I have spent the last four years diving into what it means to be autistic and how to talk about autism. I have learned about autistic stereotypes and about the gaps in the research in autism, however, the most important insight I have gained is the realization of the disconnect between research that has been conducted and educator’s knowledge of such research. For my honors thesis, I have created a workshop to educate college and university faculty and staff about autism on university campuses from an autistic perspective. However, the scope of my honors thesis did not include a specific plan to address this issue at UofSC. Thus, to apply what I learned at UofSC, my goal is to research and develop a plan to implement the workshop that was created for my honors thesis so that our faculty and staff at UofSC can learn about autism from a unique and different perspective.
Need for Learning
First, my learning inside the classroom taught me that some professors are failing to address the many facets of autism as well as continue to perpetuate negative stereotypes that surround autism. In Key Insight 2, titled “The Importance of the Autistic Perspective,” I wrote about my Behavioral and Mental Disorders class, PSYC 410, and how the professor only gave examples that implied that people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) cannot live normal, functional lives. The professor described autism in an incredibly negative light by insinuating that someone with autism will not be able to function and thrive on their own. In another example, the professor described an autistic person as a “sad and tragic case.” My research however, indicated that many of the topics taught in this class were actually myths and misconceptions according to the autistic community. Thus, there is a disconnect between how professors think about autism and its outlook compared to how autistics actually experience the disorder. Continually, in my Behavioral and Mental Disorders in Children class, PSYC 510, the professor talked almost exclusively about the overt symptoms of autism. As showcased in Key Insight 3, titled “The Intricacies of Autism,” the professor discussed the subtle symptoms of autism only 14% of the time. Again, the problem lies with paying attention only to the overt and obvious symptoms, failing to recognize the importance of the subtle symptoms as well. Thus, my learning as documented in Key Insights 2 and 3, highlighted the significance of valuing all autism symptoms as well as the importance of listening to autistic voices. However, these insights need to be applied to the UofSC community. Faculty and staff on this campus need to take a workshop that educates them on autism from a new perspective- an autistic perspective.
Creation of Learning
I came to this conclusion my junior year of college when I was tasked with choosing what to do for my honors thesis. From these conclusions, my thesis was born: a workshop that educates college and university faculty and staff about autism from an autistic perspective. The workshop is divided into four parts- introduction, gender differences, from the autistic community, conclusion- with each section being meticulously researched and thought out. In the introduction, I researched the effects of using the label ‘high-functioning’ to describe students on college and university campuses. The research indicated that this label can actually be very detrimental to students and should be avoided (Williams, 2019). For the gender differences section, I researched the effects of gender bias and specifically how this relates to university students. The research suggested that females are usually diagnosed much later than males and thus miss out on vital services due to their late diagnosis (Rutherford et al., 2015). Finally, in the from the autistic community section, I gathered qualitative data about how the autistic community experiences university life. I used this data in the workshop to highlight how the autistic experience is different from the usual experience at colleges and universities as well as how faculty and staff can help autistic students. Thus, the research findings listed above served as the basis of the workshop. While my worldview of autism and the importance of the autistic perceptive (as highlighted in my About Me section) is valuable, it is not enough to support a workshop. The data and research presented above supports my worldview as well as expands it as I gathered data from hundreds of autistic people. The goal of the workshop is to not only teach educators about autism from a new perspective, and thus try to break down many of the negative stereotypes that surround autism, but to also be solution focused with ways to implement the information presented into the classroom. While the workshop is almost completed, the next step I need to take is to find ways to market the workshop so that faculty are aware and willing to participate.
Implementation of Learning
Consequently, the goal of my leadership section is not to create the workshop but to implement it at UofSC as this execution goes beyond the scope of my honors thesis. It is here that my first key insight, titled "Bridging Creativity with Research," will be most helpful. In my Research Methods Lab course, PSYC 228, I learned how to conduct research and collect data. For the research project I created, I analyzed the relationship between the acceptance of autistic behaviors and the general knowledge of ASD. The results of this study indicated that there is a positive correlation between these two variables. The goal of implementing the workshop at UofSC is to change the campus culture into one that is supportive and understanding of autistic students. Second, the creativity aspect of my learning in PSYC 228 will also be helpful in developing my plan to implement and promote the workshop at UofSC. Just as I used my inventiveness to design the scenarios in my research to assess autism acceptance, I am now tasked with discovering ways to make the workshop available and interesting enough for faculty to want to invest their time into exploring it. Continually, in my beyond the classroom learning highlighted in Key Insight 1, I learned the importance of validation; I learned how to validate the Autism Acceptance Scale I created. Now, however, I will apply this knowledge to the validation of the workshop. By following the steps outlined below, I will work to validate the workshop so that faculty and staff at UofSC will be willing to participate. While the learning presented in my second and third key insights helped me to identify the problem of the portrayal of autism at UofSC, the learning described in my first key insight will help me to implement a solution to this problem.
Step One:
The first step of creating a plan to implement the workshop is to involve the Student Disability Resource Center (SDRC). Personally, I have worked with the SDRC extensively in my time at UofSC due to my autism. My Resource Coordinator, Sonia Badesha, has worked tirelessly with me to develop the skills I need to succeed at the University level as well as by making sure that professors are accommodating of my needs. While the SDRC is already proficient in providing support for autistic students, the office can still help promote and support the workshop. The goal of the workshop is to change the culture of how faculty and staff understand ASD on this campus and the SDRC can help to change this culture. The staff have worked tirelessly in the past decades to change the campus culture that surrounds disabilities by advocating for students to receive the help that they need and deserve. Thus, the implementation of the workshop already coincides with the goals of the SDRC. I will work with Ms. Badesha and the new director of the SDRC to gain their seal of approval on the workshop as well as to get their help in promoting it.
Step Two:
The second step towards implementing the workshop is to contact the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs as they are responsible for implementing diverse workshops and courses. They strive “to educate each member of the university community. Through understanding the individual responsibility they carry, Carolinians can create a community of acceptance for all individuals as well as nurture an atmosphere of inclusion and positive social change” (“The Office of,” n.d.). Unfortunately, right now, what is being taught about autism in the classroom is not inclusive or positive- it is stigmatizing and negative. This is why I believe partnering with this office would be the best option for implementing the workshop. Working with this office, I will help create emails and flyers that get the word out about the workshop.
Step Three:
The third step for implementing the workshop is to partner with the Center for Teaching Excellence (CTE) at UofSC. Right now, this office is focused on working with faculty and staff so that they can create effective online teaching tools. The emphasis on online teaching is a perfect environment for the implementation of the workshop as it is entirely online. While the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs can help emphasize the importance of the workshop in terms of inclusion and diversity, CTE will be another added asset as they work directly with professors. I have already been in contact with Rob Grookett at the CTE office in regard to the creation of the workshop. Thus, I will continue working with Mr. Grookett to actually implement the workshop. I will do so by adding the workshop to the ‘Courses and Communities of Practice’ section of the CTE website. Additionally, faculty and staff will be able to get a certificate of completion when they complete the workshop. A certificate of completion will help to provide incentives for faculty and staff to participate in the workshop.
Final Thoughts:
By working with the SDRC, the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and CTE, the workshop will be promoted by three programs of different skill sets and foci, something that I believe will allow more people to learn about the workshop. Additionally, the support of these three programs will help the validate the workshop as something legitimate and worthy of faculty and staff members’ time. The goal of implementing the workshop is to reach as many faculty and staff as possible at UofSC. These do not need to be exclusively professors who teach about ASD on campus, but rather anyone who is willing the participate in the workshop. This can include advisors, professors, and U101 faculty, to name a few. Backed by research and yet also a completely different perspective on ASD, the implementation of the workshop is vitally important to creating a campus that is inclusive of all autistic students
Conclusion
While the learning indicated in my second and third key insights influenced why the workshop needed to be created, the learning demonstrated in my first key insight will help me to implement the workshop so that I can start to make a difference on campus. My experiences with the portrayal of autism by professors at UofSC have been personally hurtful but also academically misleading and wrong. My research has shown that addressing autism does not need to be negative but rather needs to be inclusive- of different autistic symptoms but also of autistic voices. The implementation of the workshop I created for my honors thesis will help to make the experiences of other autistic students on the UofSC campus more inclusive, more positive, and better as a whole. In the years to come I am excited to see how the portrayal of ASD on this campus improves and blossoms so that UofSC can be a safe place for not only autistic students and but others as well.