University of Lincoln apologizes for questionnaire
ASPartOfMe
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21 Oct 2022, 10:48 am
University of Lincoln questionnaire accused of using hate speech towards autistic people
The study looked at how people with Autism Spectrum were treated within the Criminal Justice system. It aimed to “investigate if Criminal Justice Professionals change their practice after training regarding Autism Spectrum Disorder” in the hope the findings will benefit people with Autism.
Questions within the study were intended to gauge the level of prejudice for people with ASD before and after training. The University of Lincoln gave ethical approval on the questionnaire, with the study titled “Investigating if Autism Spectrum Disorder training changes the practice of professionals working within the Criminal Justice System.”
The questions were presented on a likert scale (1= strongly disagree 4= strongly agree), with questions including “people with autism should be institutionalised for their safety and others” and “a person with autism is an emotional burden to his/her family.”
The survey has since been taken down and the university has apologised for any distress caused. The university has said the questions used within the study are from a pre-existing, standardised measure specifically for gauging social attitudes towards autistic people.
However, individuals on Twitter are accusing the questionnaire of using extreme speech and not conducting the research in a more sensitive manner.
After complaints, a further review was made on the online study and it has now been decided it will not be re-opened. The university has said it regrets not making it clear that the questions are from the standardised measure called the Societal Attitudes Towards Autisms and it acknowledges the study should have had clear content warnings.
A spokesperson for University of Lincoln said: “We would firstly like to apologise for the distress that this has caused yourself and others. The University is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity and maintaining the rights and welfare of research participants. We apologise that on this occasion, it has not met those expectations.
“Upon receiving a complaint, a further review of the online study (UoL 2021_4271) was undertaken and it was decided, in consultation with the researchers, that the study be suspended. The researchers have since also decided that the study will not be re-opened and any partial response data that was received (that is when a research participant withdraws from the study without completing all the questions) will not be used.
“We once again sincerely apologise that this has caused you, or anyone, any distress. We appreciate the time you have taken to raise your concerns and working with us to ensure that research at the University of Lincoln is conducted in an appropriate and ethical manner.”
They also asked if autistics should be allowed to go to college and have romantic relationships.
Ann Memmont whose twitter post was mentioned has written a number of blogs for ‘The Thinking Persons Guide to Autism’
Of course these questions are offensive, that was the point. You find out if people are ableist by asking if they agree with ableist statements. Polling 101.
The article made it seem like the University was scared off by twitter posts. If that is true really bad polling.
I have a question of my own why was a question meant for Criminal Justice Professionals put on a University website?. I can think of legitimate reasons but these are guesses not fact.
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Professionally Identified and joined WP August 26, 2013
DSM 5: Autism Spectrum Disorder, DSM IV: Aspergers Moderate Severity
It is Autism Acceptance Month
“My autism is not a superpower. It also isn’t some kind of god-forsaken, endless fountain of suffering inflicted on my family. It’s just part of who I am as a person”. - Sara Luterman
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23 Oct 2022, 5:43 pm
They sound like perfectly reasonable questions to ask in a survey about determining how prejudiced people are. I suppose it could have been written slightly more sensitively, but I don't really see the problem. Its not like they are actually telling people that autistics need to be institutionalised.
I'm not surprised that the complaints came from Twitter. I wonder how many non-Twitter complaints they got.
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23 Oct 2022, 6:22 pm
This is one of the questions:
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When diagnosed I bought champagne!
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24 Oct 2022, 1:37 am
Just a couple of points:-
1. Without specifying what sort of autism the question is referring to is a dumb provocative questionnaire.
2. Sounds like one of those insidious questions you think is asking a direct question but is really designed to measure something else.
Severe disability to the point where an adult requires 24/7 care and ID is present is nearly always a burden whether end stage dementia , severe brain damage or severe autism.
Despite the burden society looks after these people despite this because it’s the human and decent thing to do
So why ask an obvious silly question to intelligent people?
Possibly to reveal how much the person answering might lie to be perceived as nice in our cancel culture society.
Something they would be interested in measuring I suspect.
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"The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends upon the unreasonable man."
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