Listening to the voice of a pupil with autism spectrum condition in the educational design of a mainstream early years setting

ABSTRACT

The research investigates the thoughts, needs, wishes and preferences of a pupil diagnosed with autism spectrum condition in regard to her daily experiences in a mainstream early years’ setting, in a small Greek island. The purpose of this case study was to explore and provide an example of how the designing of the Individual Learning Plan could be tailored to a specific pupil’s strengths and preferences, rather than the areas of need. The data were collected through observations, intensive interaction sessions, cameras, activities and questionnaires for parents, teacher and the pupil. The result depicted the pupil’s significant sensory needs, her desire for structured routine and visual aid, and her favourite places and activities. A special bond between the pupil and her one-to-one teacher was also apparent in all the tools. The ILP was implemented for the whole of spring and summer terms and had a positive impact on both the academic progress and social and emotional development of the pupil.

KEYWORDS:

• Listening to the child
• pupil’s voice
• children with disabilities
• early years
• disability rights

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their very great appreciation to Dr Kleopatra Diakogiorgi for her valuable and constructive suggestions on the development of this paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 In December 2018, the ‘Evaluation and Support Diagnostic Centres’ were reversed and replaced by the ‘Educational and Counseling Support Centres’ (1585/2018 Government of Greece 2018).