Rebecca Wood

• PhD
• Lecturer at University of Glasgow

Having intense or “special” interests and a tendency to focus in depth to the exclusion of other inputs, is associated with autistic cognition, sometimes framed as “monotropism”. Despite some drawbacks and negative associations with unwanted repetition, this disposition is linked to a range of educational and longer-term benefits for autistic child...

The Covid-19 pandemic resulted in major upheavals in the school education sector, particularly during periods of “lockdown” and remote working. While the impact of these changes on pupils, parents and school staff, both nationally and internationally, has been well-documented, there has been scant consideration of the effects on disabled educators....

Despite significant research into the education of autistic children and young people (CYP) and an increased awareness of the employment needs and rights of autistic adults, little attention has been paid to autistic teachers. We discuss findings drawn from an online survey in the UK in which autistic teachers and other autistic education staff (n...

Despite the availability of access arrangements for tests and exams for pupils with special educational needs and disabilities, many autistic children and young people have low academic achievements. There is also a lack of consensus on what their educational priorities should be and a failure to link their school programmes to longer-term outcomes...

Despite significant research into the education of autistic children and young people (CYP) and an increased awareness of the employment needs and rights of autistic adults, little attention has been paid to autistic teachers. We discuss findings drawn from an online survey in the UK in which autistic teachers and other education staff (n = 149) de...

The Chilean government has introduced significant changes across the school system to facilitate the educational inclusion of pupils with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) via School Integration Programmes (SIPs). However, these policies have only been partially successful, with problems of stigmatisation and tokenistic inclusion re...

A new study led by the Institute of Education at University College London, in collaboration with the University of East London and the University of Bedfordshire, has shed light on the experiences of the parents and carers of autistic children and young people during lockdown in the UK. The findings reveal that many families feel let down by the g...

A new study led by the Institute of Education at University College London, in collaboration with the University of East London and the University of Bedfordshire, has shed light on the experiences of the parents and carers of autistic children and young people during lockdown in the UK. The findings reveal that many families feel let down by the g...

Summary report on pilot online survey for autistic school staff who work or have worked in an education role in the UK.

Although theories around Communities of Practice have gained significant ground in recent years and have become an important focus for organizational development, there is a gap in studies that investigate what members gain from participation in these communities. This paper explains how the value creation framework was implemented in a transnation...

This book presents original, empirical research that reframes how educators should consider autism and educational inclusion. Rebecca Wood carefully unpicks common misapprehensions about autism and how autistic children learn, and reconsiders what inclusion can and should mean for autistic learners in school settings. Drawing on research and interw...

The Archers is a much-loved soap opera which relies entirely on audio outputs: on actors speaking and listeners listening. Despite this, many silent characters populate the drama. In fact, from Rosaline in Shake-speare's Romeo and Juliet to Godot in Beckett's Waiting for Godot, and not forgetting Tracey the barmaid in Eastenders, silent characters...

As a result of the association of autism with speech and language difficulties, autistic school children can be subject to interventions ostensibly intended to remedy these problems. However, my study, based in five mainstream primary schools in England, which incorporated the views and experiences of school staff (n = 36), autistic children (n = 1...

The Transform Autism Education (TAE) project is a tri‐national teacher training scheme involving Greece, Italy and the UK, whose purpose is to set up training projects to facilitate the educational inclusion of autistic children. Running over three years from 2014 to 2017, the involvement of autistic participants has been the source of some discuss...

In this chapter, we consider how the character of Rob Titchener has been developed in The Archers, moving him from hero of the hour to villain of the piece. We draw on a critical disability studies’ perspective to argue that ability and disability have been crucial in turning the character of Rob from the desirable and attractive man who first arri...