The Needs Project: a Study of Autistic Children’s Educational and Family Needs
Aims
We are conducting a research study to better understand why some autistic children struggle to thrive in education and other settings. This research aims to identify the factors contributing to the challenges autistic children face, with the goal of identifying their needs and developing targeted support.
Background
Many autistic children experience significant difficulties in all types of education, even with additional support. They may also experience difficulties in managing and thriving in day-to-day environments such as at home, in the community and in accessing leisure. These difficulties may be described as needs. We need a clear and detailed understanding of the needs that exist and to identify which aspects of the child’s profile, family experience and environmental setting have the biggest impacts. Community engagement with parents of autistic children in designing this research study tell us that this is an important area to explore and have informed the survey focus.
Method
This study is a survey of adult parents/carers of autistic children between 7 and 16 years. If that describes you, and you choose to participate in this study, you will be asked to complete a detailed survey about your child’s:
- Educational abilities and experiences
- Functional abilities
- Mental wellbeing and behaviour
- Engagement with leisure pursuits
- Family experiences
We will also ask about caregiver strain and your experiences as a parent/carer of an autistic child, and how much support you have.
This survey asks questions about your mental health, trauma and wellbeing which may be uncomfortable for some people. If you feel so upset that you are in danger of hurting yourself or attempting to take your own life, please speak to somebody right now. Unfortunately, the project team do not have the resources to contact or help individual participants who are experiencing suicidal thoughts. We strongly encourage you to reach out to your usual sources of support or to someone at one of the resources below: In the UK: • 999 for immediate emergency • Call your GP surgery, or NHS 24 via 111 • Samaritans website or call 116 123 • Crisis Textline – text 85258. Outside the UK: • The International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) have a list of available helplines in your country.
The survey should take up to 90 minutes to complete. There is a mixture of question types; most questions are multiple-choice, with occasional free-text responses.
Results
These will be updated when the study is complete.
Importance
By participating in this study, you will help improve the understanding of the needs of autistic children and their parents/carers. This knowledge may lead to better support, services, and awareness for these children and their families.
Relevance
Research will be presented at conferences and written up in journals with the aim of influencing service delivery and development of support and intervention to meet the needs of autistic children.
Access the Survey
If you would like to participate, you can read more about the study here and access the questionnaire by following this link: https://cambridge.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2rEZ9H62h5aghPo
Funding
The study is funded by existing grants held by the Autism Research Centre, University of Cambridge. The principal investigator’s employment is funded by North East London NHS Foundation Trust.