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Many autistic students have been struggling with the COVID-19 pandemic situation for years. Special and inclusive education experts collaborated with multi-disciplinary experts to address and solve the problems that have arisen. This chapter presents some examples of using serious games and applications to help autistic students to study and improve their quality of life in a VUCA world. Mobile device platforms are practical for online learning and provide many interactions to support inclusive design. Three serious games showed how to bring interactive content to special education, and two mobile applications demonstrated inclusive designs to solve autism problems.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and pilot of a novel program to support autistic adults with social media use. Social media use among autistic adults has been associated with increased happiness and closer friendships. However, autistic adults are at risk of social media challenges such as cyber-victimization. To date, no programs exist that specifically support autistic adults with safe and effective social media use. The primary aim of this study was to develop and pilot test a novel social media skills program for feasibility and acceptability. A secondary aim was to explore changes in Facebook activity as a proxy for online social engagement.

The socialization, education and learning for the internet (SELFI) program was developed by identifying relevant target skills, goals, considerations and evidence-based strategies to help autistic adults with online social communication. The developed SELFI program was then pilot tested with six autistic male young adults to explore initial feasibility (fidelity of delivery, attendance) and acceptability (attrition, enjoyment and programmatic feedback). Facebook data were collected to explore differences in the frequency of likes/reactions, comments and posts after completion of the program.

Each participant completed all procedures and attended every session. There was no attrition from the program. The average fidelity score for recorded sessions was 85.1%. Most participants endorsed agreement with program enjoyment and that it helped them maintain current relationships. Participant feedback provided valuable information regarding areas of strength and areas that needed improvement. Each participant who completed the study demonstrated increased Facebook engagement across likes/reactions, comments and posts.

Limitations include a small all-male sample, exclusion of adults with intellectual disabilities and adolescents and dependence on Facebook data. Additionally, the developed program did not incorporate feedback from relevant stakeholders, including autistic adults.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies to explore support for autistic adults specifically related to social media use.

The objective of this paper is to study the efficacy of the ASPECTSS Design Index's concepts as drivers of design intervention for educational environments for students on the autism spectrum. Based on the seven principles of acoustics, spatial sequencing, escape spaces, compartmentalization, transitions, sensory zoning and safety, ASPECTSS formed the basis for a preliminary post-occupancy evaluation (POE) and survey of an existing school environment.

Concepts drawn from the review of other strategies for autism spectrum disorder (ASD) friendly design were integrated with the seven ASPECTSS principles to create a design framework and consequent design retro-fit for a Pre-K-12th grade public school for students on the autism spectrum. The following design interventions were proposed: colour-coding based navigation; acoustical treatments in key circulation spaces; introduction of transition alcoves; classroom reorganisation using compartmentalization principles and the introduction of escape spaces for de-escalation. Specifically, a classroom template of modules of ASPECTSS-compliant layouts was provided to all staff. The efficacy and impact of these interventions were assessed using a whole campus online staff survey with further probing using classroom observations and subsequent interviews.

The results show alignment between the implementation of the ASPECTSS informed design interventions and responses to nine of the Likert scale items were all significantly lower than the middle response, indicating a high degree of satisfaction from survey respondents. These questions and responses related to the colour scheme facilitating ease of navigation for visitors of the school, the acoustics of the building successfully mitigating sound magnification and subsequently student distractibility, the organisation of the classrooms enhancing learning and the de-escalation zones allowing improved management of disruptive behaviours in the classroom.

This study focuses primarily on the Autism ASPECTSS Design Index as a framework for assessing classroom efficacy. Other tools and frameworks may produce different insights. A single school site was studied. Validation of these findings in other school environments is necessary before generalising these strategies at scale. The use of qualitative tools, primarily teacher and staff surveys, provides one lens into the efficacy of these design strategies. Further research using measurable biometric indicators such as heart-rate and stress levels measured through wearable technology could provide a first step towards the triangulation of these findings.

These findings could help provide more standardised best practices for designing learning environments for autism, potentially providing supportive strategies with real impact on learning quality, skill development and knowledge acquisition in school environments. This could potentially have economic implications by supporting more efficient progress for autistic students through their school curriculum.

Similar to economic impact, if validated and generalised, these findings could help with sense of accomplishment, general mental health improvement, alleviation of family stress and potential reduction of stigma in the autism community.

There is a slowly emerging field of design guidance for autism schools, but very little empirical evidence on the measurable efficacy of these strategies. This research provides one type of such evidence, as measured by the perceived impact from the point of view of staff and teachers at the school.

The world is changing rapidly and unexpectedly. COVID-19 is a warning sign that future generations need to be prepared for the volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world where more complex situations remain to be seen. Students from all walks of life should have equal access to quality education that can equip them with skills to cope with new challenges. Although the inclusion of students with special needs in Thailand has allowed them to have academic and social interaction with non-special needs students in higher education institutions, little is known regarding how COVID-19 has impacted them and how they have navigated online learning. What are the learning challenges that college students with special needs face? Digital learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic can be an even more significant challenge for students with special needs. However, some of them may feel online learning is a lifeline and a nice learning accommodation. Is it possible that they may want to continue to stay in remote accommodations, even if face-to-face classes resume? Would any of the practices return to normal and be fruitful for the VUCA world? Using data collected through in-depth interviews, this chapter identifies learning challenges confronting special-needs college students through the lens of a right-based approach and how inclusive digital learning can turn these challenges into opportunities and help these students flourish in a VUCA future. This chapter begins with a brief historical background of inclusive education policy in Thailand's higher education institutions. The chapter then, using a case study of KU, Thailand, identifies and discusses existing challenges and problems currently facing special needs learners and analyses how universities can help them to deal with and overcome such challenges. Finally, the chapter discusses the opportunities and challenges of how inclusive digital learning can play a pivotal role in elevating the learning experience and outcomes of Thai college students with special needs in the VUCA World.

Previous studies have confirmed the potential benefits of participating in theatrical improvisation, including improved mental health, well-being, skills and strategy development. This study aims to explore the experiences of improv (a subset of theatrical improvisation) for autistic, non-autistic, yet neurodivergent and neurotypical people. In particular, it explores whether participants believe that there have been any benefits from participating in improv.

Twenty adult participants were recruited using snowball sampling. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) and qualitative content analysis (QCA). IPA explored the autistic lived experience during improv participation, while QCA sought to identify the benefits gained.

Implementing IPA allowed for the benefits of improv to be embedded into autistic lived experience. This was aggregated into two themes: “life beyond improv” and “social worlds negative impact”. Findings from QCA found five themes: “creativity and opportunities: the arts and workplace”; “acceptance, cognitive flexibility and rolling with it”; “interpersonal, social and communication skills and human connection”; “gains in mental health, quality of life and wellbeing”; and for just autistic participants, “‘I've gone full autistic’ (and can learn why neurotypicals are like they are)”.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is a novel study area that has not been investigated previously.

Students with special needs in Indonesia can access education in either a special school or an inclusive school. In both systems, there are still many obstacles to ensuring the quality education for students. During the current pandemic crisis, these obstacles are getting worse. Some dramatic changes have been applied to national policies and daily learning practices at schools. Therefore, it is of interest to investigate the current situation of special and inclusive education in Indonesia. The study will be focussed on the ideology about special and inclusive education development, the strength and weaknesses of inclusive and special education programmes, and the strategies or models with which the Indonesian educational system will proceed in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) world.

This paper aims to outline the process of developing a new co-produced virtual group support programme called Positive Family Connections (PFC) aimed at family carers of children with a learning disability, or who are autistic, aged between 8 and 13 years.

Development process: family carers were recruited to develop PFC prior to a feasibility randomised controlled trial being conducted (not reported in this paper). The programme was positively oriented and family systems-focused. PFC was developed by family carers, along with the research team, and designed to be delivered by family carer facilitators. The development process included several meetings to design the format and content of the programme. An initial pilot was then delivered and further amendments made to the programme in response to the pilot participants’ feedback.

The programme: the co-produced PFC programme involved attending six weekly sessions on Zoom; each 2-h session focused on different themes (e.g. communication and activities).

Reflections on the co-production process: key ingredients of co-production included ensuring clarity on roles, positive communication and understanding of the family carers’ situation and utilising the varied skills family carers can bring to research and practise.

This is the first family systems-focused programme that the authors know of, that has been co-produced with family carers and solely delivered virtually by trained family carer facilitators from the outset.

Social media use in autistic people has been identified as a potential avenue for less pressured social contact. Given shifts towards online socialisation, this study aims to systematically review the available literature on how autistic people experience and use social media.

A systematic review was carried out using the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses system, with relevant literature reviewed and synthesised using a narrative approach. Inclusion criteria included adults and/or adolescents as the sole sample, a focus on autism and social media use as the sole/main topic.

A total of 1,278 research studies were initially identified; following screening, 15 papers were reviewed. Studies demonstrated some support for the positive role social media can play and presented its use as a smart adaptation for the challenges of neurotypical socialising. For autistic people, social media may provide a balance between meeting the need to be connected to people without the pressure of managing aspects, such as tone of voice or body language.

Most studies were questionnaire-based with substantial threats to validity. Samples were self-selecting, with autism status not always confirmed. Individual studies used a broad approach to the definition of social media, including online gaming and other online activities, precluding firm conclusions being made.

There may be a Goldilocks “just right” level of social media contact that could maximise connectedness to others without impacting negatively on mental health, offline relationships and activities of daily living.

This paper presents a novel account of research from case studies and larger scale questionnaire studies.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the acceptance and support of neurodiverse people in society, with a focus on autism, and to use this to propose a framework to enhance inclusivity that can inform pedagogy within the education sectors.

Three case studies from higher education have been presented and mapped onto a multi-dimensional spectrum of characteristics normally associated with autistic people. Further examples have been taken from the general population and these have been used, along with user scenarios to propose a framework for inclusivity.

A framework, the human spectrum, has been proposed which encompasses all of society, regardless of diagnoses and within which people have mobility in terms of their characteristics. It is proposed that this framework should be incorporated into pedagogy in primary, secondary and tertiary education so that teaching and assessment is inclusive and so that people’s understanding of human nature is built from an early age to counter stigma and herd mentality, or othering.

The contribution of this paper could have significant implications for society as the framework provides a structure to enable people to consider others with new perspectives.

The framework proposed provides a new and original way of shaping the way people think within the education sector and elsewhere.

Values have long guided special education services and supports for students with extensive support needs; over the past four decades, those values have been backed by research evidence demonstrating the critical nature of values related to inclusive education, self-determination, and seeking strengths and assets. In this chapter, we investigate these values and their supporting research, documenting strengths and needs in extant research. We emphasize the need to continue to embrace and maintain these values while pursuing research that addresses research gaps while centering the priorities, perspectives, and preferences of people with extensive support needs.