In this thesis, I explore 42 autistic individuals’ transitions into further and higher
education (FHE) in England, drawing on personal experience as well as
interview data. I was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome in 1998 at the age
of 13. At the age of 15, my mother introduced the topic to me, and autism soon
became the foundation of my socio-political identity. The discussion is divided
into three themes; stigma and perception management strategies, formal and
informal support networks and the interplay of autism with institutional factors.
I draw upon Tringo’s (1970) work on the hierarchy of impairment and
Goffman’s (1963) work on stigma. Tringo’s (1970) hierarchy of impairment led
me to my intra-communal hierarchy of impairment (perpetuated by autistic
individuals against autistic individuals) and Goffman’s (1963) work on stigma
led me to my four degrees of openness; autistic individuals can be
indiscriminately open, or indiscriminately reticent, but openness if relevant,
and openness if necessary, are more common strategies. UPIAS’ (1976) work
on the social model of disability laid the foundation for my socio-political
identity and this thesis. I argue autism has been largely absent from the
political arena. I outline how there are four ideals; the ideals of self-regulation,
normalcy, ability and independence. Eager to conform to these ideals, eager
to self-present as ‘independent’, ‘self-regulating’, ‘normal’ or ‘capable’, some autistic students are reluctant to request support and accommodations, complicating the transition to FHE.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BRADFORD/oai:bradscholars.brad.ac.uk:10454/18434 |
| Date | January 2019 |
| Creators | Simmons, Amy L. |
| Contributors | Rogers, Chrissie |
| Publisher | University of Bradford, Faculty of Management, Law and Social Sciences, School of Social Sciences |
| Source Sets | Bradford Scholars |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, doctoral, PhD |
| Rights | <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/"><img alt="Creative Commons License" style="border-width:0" src="http://i.creativecommons.org/l/by-nc-nd/3.0/88x31.png" /></a><br />The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/">Creative Commons Licence</a>. |
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