Experiences of social skills groups in schools - help needed

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I hope this is ok to post here.

I am a Trainee Educational Psychologist at the Insititute of Education, University College London.

For my thesis research, I am looking to explore the experiences of autistic 13-21 year olds who have either current or previous involvement in social skills groups in schools (UK only). These kinds of groups seem to be used fairly often in schools but there is currently a real lack of research into their use and impact. I feel it is really important that there is more research which puts autistic voices at the forefront to support evidence-based practice.

I am looking to conduct virtual interviews or focus groups over Zoom using the chat function (questions and answers typed rather than spoken aloud, microphones and cameras switched off). I have chosen this method as I hope it will be more inclusive than a traditional interview set-up. As well as autistic young people, I am also looking to interview a parent for each autistic young person to get a wider understanding of the impact of social skills group participation.

So far recruitment is proving difficult and it would be such a shame if I ended up having to alter the focus of my research as I feel research of this nature is sorely needed.

If anyone would be interested in taking part or knows of anyone else who might be (young person AND parent), please do get let me know. I can't post the URL for the info sheet here but if you contact [email protected] I can send further details.

Thank you!

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