Swinburne University is doing a course about Autism, and they want Autistic experiences to discuss for their online content.
You can get the survey sheet here, and I think you're meant to email it to autism@swin.edu.au. The sheet isn't too clear on that point. It doesn't say when they'll stop accepting answers, but the course is being run for six weeks in April.
The sheet is a Word Document with a table. They want to know about the individual's Background, the Environment of an event, the event's Spark, Action, and Result. These words make it clear that they're looking for information about meltdowns, but the sheet also asks for positive experiences.
I got onto this from the AMAZE newsletter, AMAZE being an Australian Autism organisation. They do nice stuff like sensitive Santas, low-stress movie showings and a biannual conference. But they don't seem to be run by Autistic people so I don't really trust them. By publicising the survey in the Amaze newsletter it's clear that Swinburne wants to hear about the experiences of Autistics from parents. This makes it clear Swinburne has only thought of asking for stories from 'parents and experts in the field.'
I think it will do the Swinburne students a world of good to hear about Autistic experiences from the Autistics who experienced them. It would also be good for them to read about things that go underrepresented in Autism discourse, like sexuality, patronisation, employment difficulties and discrimination. Women and not-white people should answer, they are noticeably underrepresented in Autism discussion.
I've had a look at the Swinburne course's Twitter feed, and their references to Temple Grandin and Rosie King suggest that they might be amenable to including actual Autistic voices into their content.
Swinburne are looking for 'real, authentic and meaningful' Autistic experiences. Why not give it to them?
17 Jan 2015, 12:21 am
