Standing Together for Autism and Neurodevelopment Differences (STAND) is an all-Ireland project exploring the teaching and learning experience of children and young people with autism and neurodevelopmental differences (A/ND) during the Covid pandemic. Examples of cross-border Irish research are not particularly common.  Whilst geographically close, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are culturally distinct.  While this project relates only to Ireland, this cross-jurisdiction perspective is relational to most countries’ experiences of Covid restriction in the education of children and young people with special educational needs.

Supporting the educational needs of learners with A/ND appropriately and realistically is recognised as being challenging especially in relation to inclusive practice. The symbiotic micro- meso-system relationships (e.g., Bronfenbrenner) between school and home is critical, with both bio-ecological systems relying on each other for shared experiences and expectations, so as to ensure that the learner receives the most relevant and appropriate supports and interventions to achieve agreed learning goals. During the Covid-19 pandemic, it became very evident that established ideologies of inclusive practice were challenged and perhaps even dismantled, as “restrictions” were implemented across society. School closures and “stay-at-home” became a reality for everyone and this burden has been evidenced in the research literature as having created additional stressors for families and young children and adults with A/ND. This pandemic required hitherto fore unthinkable restrictions and impositions on families and family functioning – e.g., many parents were mandated to work from home and at the same time supervise and co-teach their children. Further stressors related to the transferring of learning activities to on-line engagement.  Undoubtedly, these restrictions presented new and unforeseen barriers to education for all learners with additional needs, their families, their teachers and their school communities. However, many latent issues pertaining to effective education and family support were also highlighted through the pandemic – always known to the families but only tacitly acknowledged by society and educational policies.

This paper presents the explored voices and testimony of teachers and school principals from special educational settings and provides a new depth of understanding regarding the effect of Covid-19 on teaching and parenting roles in the context of teaching and learning. Study participants were asked to respond to a short questionnaire, generate a small artistic presentation of professional reflection entitled “What was Teaching During Covid?”, and participated in an on-line semi-structured interview. A central aim of the project was to investigate how schools and teachers can better support families during pandemics/crises.

This project commenced in 2021, with new data to be collated, analysed, and reported upon in May 2022. A questionnaire and semi-structured interview were supplemented with a mosaic approach (creative arts sample) to support high levels of teacher/practitioner reflection. The mosaic approach uses elements of participatory and visual/arts-based methods, which ensures that knowledge is generated through methods that prioritise natural abilities and skills of the research participants (e.g., Carr-Fanning & Mc Guckin, 2017). This approach involves participants as co-researchers and provides opportunities for removing barriers to participation as the researchers attend to personally preferences/choices and meaningful methods to support their own expression (O’Síoráin, Mc Guckin, & Carr-Fanning, 2021). Once this phase of the research is completed, semi-structured interviews will be employed to facilitate discussion of the artefacts that have been created – helping to support the participants to expand on their contribution as they require. Such an approach enables the research team to attain a more robust level of reliability and validity, as it relates to the data generated, but also allows scope to explore areas of interest as they arise in conversation. Analysis of the artefacts will follow an inductive approach, seeking to preserve the integrity of the “voices” through the artefacts requires a meaning-making and a voice centred approach. The semi-structured interviews/recordings will be transcribed and analysed according to the Braun and Clarke’s (2006, 2021) framework for thematic analysis. Proposed participants in STAND Project 1 part (a) are teachers in special school communities in Ireland (n=8) and Northern Ireland (n=4). Research questions include: 1. ‘What was/is ‘education’ during this pandemic for learners with A/ND in primary and post-primary education? 2. What can educators, policy makers and other stakeholders learn from the pandemic? 3. How do/did the pupil/student learn personally relevant skills that fulfil their personal ambitions in life? 4. How do/did parents/guardians engage with educational goals and targets now and during Covid 19 restrictions? How do/did they communicate their personal experiences to you? 5. How can we ensure quality education, for pupils/students with A/ND, going forward and in preparation for other pandemics or crises? 6. If we could make one change to how we teach/learn what would that be?

Clearly, this research project will be of benefit to all educators and parents of children with autism and Neurodevelopmental Difference. The findings from this project are essential in filling the knowledge-practice gaps to inclusive thinking, acting and planning and in the functioning inclusive relationships within the special education setting. The outcome that this research project seeks to achieve is to bring about positive change in inclusive teaching and learning for children and young people with A/ND and to strengthen the relationship of partners in education. We seek to achieve this by generating a short professional learning programme accessible to educators both North and South of the island of Ireland. Funding for this project is provided by SCoTENS.

Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2021). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006) Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. Carr-Fanning, K., & Mc Guckin, C. (2017). Developing creative methods for children’s voice research: Potential and pitfalls when constructing verbal and visual methods for research with cfhildren with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. In SAGE Research Methods Cases. London, United Kingdom: SAGE Publications, Ltd. DOI: 10.4135/9781473958036 O’Síoráin, C. A., Mc Guckin, C., & Carr-Fanning, K. (2021). Well that’s another fine mess you got me into. The jargon of research (how do we translate this for the participant with additional needs?). In A. Fox, H. Busher, & C. Capewell (Eds), Thinking critically and ethically about research for education (1st Edn) (pp. 40-53). London: Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003094722 eBook ISBN9781003094722