Berglind Laxdal

„The school hates me.“

Voices of autistic children in the school system

Here is a qualitative study of the situation of autistic children in the school system, the study is based on interviews with children and young people aged 9-19 and their parents or guardians. Psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi's philosophy of flow in creativity was woven into interviews with the children. The researcher designed three flow games designed to soften the atmosphere and build trust and interest.

Interviewees were advertised through the Autism Association and interviewees came from the North, South, Reykjanes, West and the Capital Region The interviews took place in the interviewees' local area.

The motto „Nothing about us, without us“ was used as a guide in the study and an attempt was made to approach material and articles by rational people as much as possible. Academic articles on validation, disability studies, marginalization and exclusion were examined in this context, among other things.

In a dream world, all individuals are equal and have the same opportunities in life, but the reality is unfortunately different The result of the study shows that there is a breakdown in the cooperation between homes and schools when it comes to the issues of autistic students and their parents. There, the lack of knowledge of school staff about autism has a great impact and the lack of knowledge on how to adapt teaching and the environment so that it is more suitable for all children. At the end, ideas about sensible schools are presented based on the results of the study and the changes that autistic students want to see in the school system so that their needs and well-being are a priority.

Supervisor: Margrét M. Norðdahl
30 ECTS MA