Browsing by Subject "autismikirjo"
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(2022)Aim. The aim of this study was to examine the experiences of adults on the autism spectrum of being themselves and the factors related to masking in higher education and transitioning to working life. Previous studies have shown that many people on the autism spectrum feel the need to mask their characteristics typical of the autism spectrum. It has been found that masking can have negative effects on the mental health and wellbeing of the person who masks. This study reveals the experiences of adults on the autism spectrum of being themselves and which factors are related to masking. Methods. The data of the study consisted of the interviews collected for the international IMAGE project. The participants were adults on the autism spectrum from Finland (n=7) and the United Kingdom (n=5). The data was analyzed in the phenomenological framework using qualitative, data-driven content analysis. Results and conclusions. The results showed that the diagnosis of autism spectrum was reported mainly for a specific reason, not spontaneously. Experiences of being accepted ranged from positive to negative, and it was particularly challenging to be oneself in extracurricular activities. Three themes emerged in the factors related to masking. First, masking and openness on the other hand were associated with the concern about their consequences: participants considered possible negative consequences on job search, other people and themselves. Another factor related to masking was social environment. Masking increased when the person on the autism spectrum did not know their company, while knowledge about the autism spectrum and friendly attitude reduced it. What is more, one’s own opinion of the autism spectrum was related to masking. A positive attitude towards the autism spectrum reduced the need for masking, while one's own or others' negative experiences of being open about the autism spectrum increased its hiding. In higher education and workplaces, it would be important to reinforce factors that increase the possibility for the people on the autism spectrum to be themselves and not mask if they wish so.
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(2023)We live in an increasingly diverse society. Various neurological developmental disorders have become more and more common as awareness and general discussion around them has increased. One of the most important tasks of basic education is to support the student's growth in humanity and become a membership of society. Teaching and education must promote, for example, respect for other people, human rights and equality. It is also important to support the student's growth into a balanced person with a healthy self-esteem. Literary education is the right way to deal with these skills of growing as a person. Reading fiction allows you to understand both yourself and the world around you better. The meaning of identification is also crucial because every child should have the opportunity to read relatable works which they can use to mirror themselves. In the current literature for young adults, all types of autism are already covered quite extensively, but the autism spectrum still appears as a relatively rare theme. The purpose of this thesis was to study the spectrum of autism in two books for young people from the 21st centu-ry. The study was carried out as a qualitative study. The research method was data-based content analysis, which was used to analyze two books for young adults dealing with autism. The research was carried out more precisely as a theory-driven SI content analysis. The theoretical basis was Murray's (2008) publication on fictional autistic people. In the young adult books I selected, the portrayal of the autism spectrum was in line with Murray`s (2008) defined archetypes of fictional autistic characters. “The Curios Incident of the dog in the night-time” (Yöllisen koiran merkillinen tapaus, 2003) exhibited the savant archetype as well as a stereotypical description of autism. “The Shadow Garden” (Varjopuutarha, 2014) displayed a very subtle idiot-archetype. Both books also featured the core characteristics outlined by the Autism Society (Autismiliitto, 2023). However, despite the precence of Murray`s (2008) archetypes in both works, they offered a deeper portrayal than merely relying on stereotypes.
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(2021)The purpose of the study is to find out how guardians of children with autism spectrum experience the implementation of support in early childhood education. In the past few years, the diagnosis of autism spectrum has become more common in children of early childhood age, so the number of children diagnosed has increased in early childhood education. Children have been placed in different kindergarten groups, taking into account support needs, but the educating community with know-how may be absent from the groups. In this case, the child’s personally directed support also suffers. In the past, the views of early childhood educators on the rehabilitation of children with autism spectrum disorder in early childhood education have been studied more, but the guardians’ thoughts on the implementation of support and early childhood education are few. The aim of the study is to find out whether the child’s personal support needs have been taken into account in the group and whether the child receives enough support in the opinion of the guardians. The study was conducted through individual interviews by remotely interviewing guardians of children with autism spectrum in early childhood education. The research was carried out using qualitative methods and the research material was analyzed on the basis of data by means of content analysis. The theoretical background of the study is based on the forms and arrangements of support for early childhood education, research data on the autism spectrum, laws, regulations and policies related to the early childhood education of children with autism spectrum and early childhood education in general. The results of the study on the experiences of guardians of autism spectrum children about the support received by the child in early childhood education or pre-school education were expressed by the guardians'views on gaps in support, reinforcing factors in support and guardians' wishes for good and adequate support. The guardians felt that the input of certain employees, the close co-operation between the kindergarten educators and the family, and the consideration of individual support needs were positive things. The guardians felt that the lack of information, insufficient resources and a lack of knowledge about the children were negative things in support. In addition, the guardians described that not enough children's special means of communication were used. In particular, carers wanted more resources, stronger staff training and the necessary support services to support early childhood education.
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(2023)The goal of my research is to find out which factors affect the success of elementary school-age pupils with autism spectrum in schooling in the general education class and which factors prevent success. This study was carried out as a qualitative study using a phenomenological research sample, because this method is well suited for exploring experiences of the research participants. The data was collected in the spring of 2023 by interviewing five parents of pupils on the autism spectrum. The answers of the interviews were analyzed in search of factors that would help satisfy the three basic psychological needs defined by self-determination theory. Based on the experiences of the interviewees, the reason for the delay in getting help for children on the autism spectrum was often that school was waiting for the child to receive a diagnosis. Getting tested and getting a diagnosis can be a process lasting many years. If the child does not get the support he/she needs at school during this time, it will have a negative effect on his/her well-being and ability to attend school. Cooperation with families and meeting the child was clearly influenced if the teacher has previous experience with pupils on the autism spectrum or understanding of these different pupils. Factors facilitating the cooperation were the school staff's understanding of the child and family, the teacher's positive attitude, the effective interaction between home and school, and the tailoring of support measures according to the child's needs. Obstacles to cooperation were radically different views on the child's need for support, seeing the child and the family in a negative light, and meetings, the end result of which was that the child was still left without the support he/she needed.
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(2022)Tausta: Autismikirjon ihmisten sukupuolen moninaisuus on viime vuosina herättänyt laajaa asiantuntija- ja kansaiskeskustelua. Kuvaan systemaattiseen kirjallisuushakuun perustuvassa aineistossani sitä, miten sukupuolen moninaisuutta ja autismikirjoa on viime vuosina käsitelty tieteellisessä tutkimuksessa. Aineisto ja menetelmät: Tarkastelen vuosina 2017-2021 kansainvälisessä Scopus-tietokannassa julkaistuja autismikirjoa ja sukupuolen moninaisuutta käsitteleviä tutkimustiivistelmiä temaattisen analyysin avulla. Analyysiani ohjaa intersektionaalinen näkökulma ja transhistorian tutkimus. Tulokset: Jäsennän sukupuolen moninaisuuden ja autismikirjon yhteisesiintyvyyttä käsittelevän tieteellisen tutkimuksen patologisaatio-, depatologisaatio- ja repatologisaatiopyrkimysten keskinäiseksi kamppailuksi. Sukupuoleltaan moninaiset autismikirjon ihmiset kokevat elämänsä aikana sivuuttamista, ulossulkemista ja syrjintää, jolla on vakavia seurauksia. Puolet tutkimustiivistelmistä tarkasteli yhteisesiintyvyyttä medikalisoivasta, psykologisoivasta tai seksuaalisuutta painottavasta näkökulmasta. Yli kolmannes tutkimuksista edusti kriittistä, osallistavaa tai keskustelevaa näkökulmaa. Uudempia tutkimustraditioita edustavat tutkijat käsittelivät autismikirjoon liittyviä sukupuolen erityispiirteitä usein neutraaleina tai myönteisinä ominaisuuksina. Pohdinta: Patologisoinnin, medikalisoinnin ja psykologisoinnin sijaan sukupuoleltaan moninaiset autismikirjon ihmiset ovat oman kokemuksensa ja palveluntarpeensa parhaita asiantuntijoita. He voivat myös auttaa muita ihmisiä ymmärtämään sukupuolta oman kokemuksensa ja erityisyytensä avulla.
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(2020)The focus of the research in this Master´s thesis was in the personal views of the parents of the children with ASD about family-centered work in school, early childhood education and health care: how they are treated, how well they feel they are supported and what kind of wishes they have for meetings with professionals. The aim is to improve the competence of school and health care professionals and to improve their ability to work with parents of children with ASD. The parents of children with ASD cooperate closely together with different professionals and a successful cooperation has a positive effect on the parents' coping and daily survival. However, parents often face various challenges when collaborating with professionals in health care and in school. The data of this research consists of 28 responses from parents of children with ASD. A web questionnaire was used to collect the data and it was analyzed qualitatively with theory-guided approach. In the questionnaire parents were asked to share their experiences about how they have been met and taken into account in the meetings with the professionals in school, early childhood education and health care. The results showed that there were lots of variation between individual experiences on how the family-centered work has manifested and realized. Most of the experiences of the parents were quite negative while the positive experiences had a positive impact on the collaboration. Parents felt quite often that the responsibility was distributed unevenly and the load for the parents was too heavy. Collaboration was also hindered by the stiffness of the system, continuous replacement of the professionals and the underestimation of the parents experience. Also the lack of know-how and uncertainty of the professionals taking care of the childrens’ matters was frustrating for the parents. Parents also told that the families were supported in a more holistic way, that they were heard and care were individualized. The amount of help and support was felt insufficient and the parents also felt that they were blamed and they were given negative feedback. They also felt that they were informed quite poorly and they wished for more concrete advice and help for the search of the information. Family-centered work is a good basis for the collaboration. It is built of multiple little things, but one of the main things is that the professionals keep the whole family in the focus. Professionals with a sufficient know-how are able to take the responsibility needed so that the load for the families isn’t too heavy. That is also one key thing to build trust between the professionals and the parents. And for that reason it is important to always upgrade the knowledge and to ask help if needed. Also the ability to listen the needs of the families and to offer help and support spontaneously is important. It is always important to take care of the child, but also the whole family and make sure the parents are well. Even though there are always lack of time and resources for the professionals to deal with, it is important to understand that just by being present, listening and meeting the families with respect, it is possible to create a positive atmosphere for the meetings and enhance the family-centered work to be realized. Positive feedback, informing the families and investing in the first meetings with the new families will make it and will help the family-centered work to be realized.
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(2021)Goals. The aim of this study was to examine the challenges autistic university students face when searching for a job, and the supporting structures that universities offer. Research on autistic graduates’ transition between university and employment is scarce. The numbers of autistic students are on the rise in higher education. It is important to evaluate the structures that universities have in place to support their transition into employment. The autism spectrum condition manifests differently with every individual but there are some common characteristics: challenges in social interaction and communication, as well as repetitive and/or restricted behaviour. These characteristics can present challenges during job application. Research shows that especially job application and the processes involving it can create barriers for autistic graduates. Methods. The data is collected as a part of the IMAGE Project. Participants were Finnish autistic university students or recent graduates (n=7) and career advisors (n=5). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews during spring 2019. The interviews were transcribed and then analysed using grounded theory. Results and conclusions. This study shows that many autistic students didn’t use career services even though they recognized needs for support in searching for a job. Three aspects affected students seeking support from career services: 1) need for support and recognising it, 2) meeting the need for support and 3) accessibility of support. Many of the support needs expressed by autistic students were met by services offered by universities, but problems with accessibility of career services created barriers which hindered students from using the services. There were structures in place that guided students into career services but often getting help demanded that students actively seek it. This demand for self-directness may form a barrier for many autistic students. Based on this study universities should create systematic structures that guide students into services as effortlessly as possible.
Now showing items 1-7 of 7