In Professor Sean Cleary's course, "The Autism Experience," students gain insights into autism from a public health perspective. Through service-learning and community participatory research methods, they engage with autistic young adults, their parents, researchers, clinicians, and service providers. The course explores the science, various viewpoints, and real-life experiences of autism, with a specific emphasis on the transition to adulthood for young adults. Working alongside community advocates, students delve into research that directly impacts the autistic community.
Professor: Sean Cleary
Semester Reports
Spring 2023
Students Reporting: 4
Time Reported: 4
For a few years now, students have worked closely with Our Stomping Ground. Our Stomping Ground works to build inclusive communities and strengthen neighbhoods through diverse programming, sustainable, affordable housing and social spaces for people of all abilities. Students collaborate closely with Our Stomping Ground to facilitate events and engage directly with clients. For example, this past semester students helped to design and teach meditation classes, developed and maintained databases to track participation in community events, participated in community events, and listened to community members to advocate and help the autism community.
For information about Community Engaged Scholarship at GW: https://go.gwu.edu/cesc
Student Quotes:
"I learned so much about the autism community as I had very little knowledge of it before. I was able to learn from our community partners themselves and it opened a whole path for me in terms of my public health degree. I would like to continue working with the autism community and helping them in any way I can."
"I learned a lot of new perspectives from both staff and friends at OSG as well as the importance of working directly with those I am developing a product for (database) by understanding their needs and barriers."
Spring 2021
Professor: Sean Cleary
Community Partners for This Course
- “The Tribe” a local group of young adults with autism
- Center City Nova
- Growing Kids
- SPARC
- GW Yoga
Community Partner Comments
“It is great to see the GW students in this course learning from the autistic students. You can change the future of healthcare. – Service Provider
“I am personally quite social but my autism gets in the way of connecting with others. I present as quite weird and most people would have no idea how much I crave their friendship. I really appreciate the new friends I have made through this class. – Member of “The Tribe”
Student Scholarship and Applied Projects
Students’ final projects were influenced by the principles of community-based participatory research, and included the input of service providers and the young adults with autism who joined class discussions. These projects were shared with appropriate community organizations and were presented at the GW Symposium on Community Engaged Scholarship.
- An Application of Telehealth to Improve Healthcare Disparities of Adults with Autism
- A Guide for Communication between Healthcare Providers and Non-speaking Autistic Adults
- Caring for Individuals with Autism during a Crisis
- Correctional Staff Guidelines for Accommodating Prisoners with Autism: Ways to Improve the Autism Experience in Prison
- Solving the Controversy: People First vs. Identity First Language
- Ways to Incentivize Caregiving for People with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Other Disabilities in the United States
Several students from this course received awards at the Nashman Center’s Fall 2020 Symposium on Community Engaged Scholarship, including Carly Cox' win of the Audience Choice Award.
- Carly Cox, "How the Mental Health system Can Better Serve Young Adults with Autism"
- Sydney Bornstein, "Transition to Adult Healthcare Among Non-Speaking Autistic Young Adults"
GW Yoga
Community partners (young adults with autism) were invited to join GW Yoga classes alongside students from this course. Photographed: students and community partners relaxing after yoga.
I honestly think yoga not only helped all of us mentally relax, but it also required all of us to work with our autistic friends in order to accomplish an activity. - GW student
Student Comments
“I learned so much from the GW and Tribe students and I’m excited to maintain contact with you all and research more about pressing issues affecting individuals with autism. I could not have asked for a more immersive and personalized learning experience.” – A student serving with “The Tribe”
“Perhaps my most favorite part of the last class was when we split up into groups and attempted to retrace a star while using a phone camera without directly looking at the star. While this activity may have acted as a crude method to parallel the challenges associated with apraxia and purposeful movement, I nevertheless became frustrated in my inability to properly trace the star. The autistic students shared with me that my frustration is something that they encounter regularly, and for me to only have a short-lived experience on such a miniscule scale leaves me at a loss of words for what nonspeaking autistic individuals confront every day. Essentially, this class has piqued my curiosity about the limitless potential of the autistic students and I am excited to learn with them in the future and refine my own understanding that intelligence or behavior should never be treated as a one dimensional construct.”
“This week I thought I would talk about the Thursday/Friday optional [Zoom] meeting sessions. I have been really enjoying them. I think it’s especially nice since contact with others has been so limited. In one of the sessions B had told E that it was nice seeing her through Zoom and that he missed their walks together. I thought that was really sweet and highlights the importance of building connections. Seeing B so excited to just see E through a screen emphasizes the idea that building relationships and friendships with others can really help with decreasing the prevalence of mental comorbidities like depression in the autistic community.”
