Funding outcome

Authentic inclusion, including social connectedness and belonging, is important to health, wellbeing and quality of life. However, Autistic students are at high risk of social exclusion. They are often physically present, but socially distant from peers at school. A lack of peers' appreciation of diversity and understanding of the characteristics associated with autism may contribute to exclusion. Diversity-awareness interventions that provide explanatory, strengths-based education about autism have been shown to increase peer engagement and acceptance of autistic peers, and have the potential to promote increased social inclusion. This study builds upon our previous research that evaluated the outcomes of a peer-focused autism educational intervention in summer camps. We will collaborate with staff at Edmonton Catholic Schools (ECS) to co-design and implement a diversity and autism awareness intervention with the goal of enhancing peer engagement and social inclusion of autistic students. Elementary school classes that include an autistic student will participate in activities centered around diversity-awareness and autism. These activities will: (1) celebrate the ways they are all diverse from one another to broadly build empathy and promote inclusivity within the school environment, and (2) include strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming and autism-specific information to foster a deeper awareness, understanding of, and empathy toward their autistic peers. We will explore the influence of these activities on peer engagement by coding videos of peers interactions with autistic students before and after the intervention. We will explore the influence of these activities on inclusion using questionnaires about inclusion, acceptance, and friendships, and through talking with autistic students, peers, and school staff about how they perceived the intervention influenced inclusion of autistic students.