Gaining Insight into Transition and Progression of Students on the Autism Spectrum - DISCOVER a Transition Programme with a Difference

Autism is a neurodevelopment condition that is ‘characterised by qualitative impairments in social communication and social interaction across contexts and a repetitive or restricted pattern of interest, behaviour and activity’ (Lambe, 2019:1531). According to the autistic rights movement, ‘autistic people are not disconnected from the world around them, they are differently connected to it’ (Leveto, 2018 :3). Over the last number of years, there has been a move away from defining autism as a ‘disorder’ and towards redefining it as a ‘difference’ (Ring et al, 2018). In this paper, the terms ‘autism’ or ‘on the spectrum’ will be used. The Moving to Further and Higher Education Report (Guckin et al, 2013) recommended the development of targeted access initiatives to support the academic and social needs of students with a disability in transition and progressing through further education. Targeted orientation programmes are used to allow students from under-represented groups to meet other students, visit the campus, tour the library and get essential information that will support the student’s transition to higher education. Disability Support Services (DSS) are keenly aware of the importance of the transition from second-level education into third level education. Year on year there is an increase in the number of students with disabilities who are accessing third-level education. Students with disabilities now make up approximately 6.2% of the total student population (AHEAD, 2019). Since 2016, there has been a 25% increase in the number of students accessing higher education who are on the spectrum

An Introduction to the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection Framework (I-CELER)

Cultivating ethical Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics researchers and practitioners requires movement beyond reducing ethical instruction to the rational exploration of moral quandaries via case studies and into the complexity of the ethical issues that students will encounter within their careers. We designed the Integrated Community-Engaged Learning and Ethical Reflection (I-CELER) framework as a means to promote the ethical becoming of future STEM practitioners. This paper provides a synthesis of and rationale for I-CELER for promoting ethical becoming based on scholarly literature from various social science fields, including social anthropology, moral development, and psychology. This paper proceeds in five parts. First, we introduce the state of the art of engineering ethics instruction; argue for the need of a lens that we describe as ethical becoming; and then detail the Specific Aims of the I-CELER approach. Second, we outline the three interrelated components of the project intervention. Third, we detail our convergent mixed methods research design, including its qualitative and quantitative counterparts. Fourth, we provide a brief description of what a course modified to the I-CELER approach might look like. Finally, we close by detailing the potential impact of this study in light of existing ethics education research within STEM

Public engagement in local government: the voice and influence of citizens in online communicative spaces

The communications and engagement strategies of local councils play an important role in contributing to the public's understanding of local democracies, and their engagement with local issues. Based on a study of the local authority in the third largest city in the UK, Leeds, this article presents an empirically based analysis of the impact of new opportunities for public engagement afforded by digital media on the Council's communication with citizens. Drawing on over 20 face-to-face semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, Council communications specialists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the Council's engagement and communication with citizens from the perspective of a range of actors involved in the engagement process. The research asks what the differing motivations behind the Council's communications and engagement strategies mean for the way that digital media are and might be used in the future to enhance the role of citizens in local governance. The research suggests that while there are no grounds for expecting digital media to displace existing channels of public engagement, digital media are beginning to play an important role in defining and reconfiguring the role of citizens within local governance

Best practices for urban local food entrepreneurs and building regional Extension networks

Interest in local foods production in the urban environment has been steadily increasing in North Dakota and the surrounding region. Food entrepreneurs are seeking safe and reliable ways to grow, create, and market their fresh or freshly preserved products. Urban consumers are demanding local foods and food products that are fresh and safe. As an increasing number of producers and vendors enter farmers markets and other local food sales channels, these growing small businesses need technical assistance for safe food handling and marketing in the changing world of pandemics and supply chain issues. Although some basic practices, such as hand washing, have been encouraged for decades, the pandemic has shown that they are in constant need of reinforcement. Regulations for small-scale food entrepreneurs vary widely from state to state and can be confusing for both entrepreneurs and consumers. This lack of clarity is an ongoing issue, so a best practices document was created and disseminated throughout the North Central Region. The North Central Food Safety Extension Network (NCFSEN) has been building a coalition of Extension food safety professionals in our region since 2016. We have implemented several activities together, including monthly meetings, building relationships with industry professionals, developing educational materials, and creating a program evaluation tool for our region. Our network also has been working steadily to help other regions establish their own Extension coalitions to better serve their constituents as developed around a particular topic, such as food safety in our case. To that end, we have assembled best practices for creating regional Extension networks. The following elements was presented at the conference: 1) background of cottage foods in our region, pre- and post-pandemic; 2) best practices for local food entrepreneurs, including the relevance of “best practices” in view of varying state laws and regulations, health and hygiene policy for employees, volunteers, and family members, market day preparations and contingencies, creating, labeling, and sampling value-added food products; 3) evolving practices for pandemic circumstances in urban markets; 4) building regional Extension coalitions to better serve local constituencies; and 5) best practices for implementing your own regional Extension network, including benefits of regional collaboration, organization, communication, and setting goals

The changing role of the local news media in enabling citizens to engage in local democracies

Using Leeds City Council in the United Kingdom as a case study, we analyse comparatively the changing role of local journalism in the public communications and engagement strategies of local government. Drawing on over 20 semi-structured interviews with elected politicians, Council strategists, mainstream journalists, and citizen journalists, the article explores perceptions of the mainstream news media's role versus new modes of communication in engaging and communicating with citizens. We evaluate the Council's perceptions of its online and offline practices of engagement with different publics, and focus in particular on their interactions with journalists, the news media, and citizen journalists. The article considers how moves towards digital modes of engagement are changing perceptions of the professional role orientations of journalists in mediating between the Council and the general public

Threading, Stitching, and Storytelling: Using CBPR and Blackfoot Knowledge and Cultural Practices to Improve Domestic Violence Services for Indigenous Women

This article discusses a community-based participatory research (CBPR) project at two women’s emergency shelters in rural southwestern Alberta. The CBPR project aimed to improve shelter services on and off reserve in our area by engaging the voices of Indigenous women who had experienced domestic violence. The project’s methods were participatory appraisal and arts-based work re-imagined through Blackfoot cultural practices of storytelling and shawl making. The project created a rare safe space where thirteen Blackfoot women emphasised DV services should provide opportunities to connect with family and community and role model Blackfoot knowledge. Role modelling traditional knowledges aids developing life and parenting skills, opening up pathways for Indigenous women to more positive, secure futures. These women’s recommendations impelled this article to challenge the individualized case management model and discourses of cultural competence dominating Canadian DV services, which isolate and marginalize Indigenous women when they seek help. We highlight resources existing in Blackfoot communities to manage and prevent violence by protecting and facilitating Indigenous women’s connections to their communities and cultures, and offer ways to utilize these more effectively in service settings