Impacts of specialist secondary schools on girls with autism from the perspectives of their educators.
Name of Researcher: Evie Mae Holtby
1. Invitation paragraph
You are being invited to take part in a research project that aims to investigate the specialist secondary schools’ educators’ experiences of providing support to autistic female students. Before you decide on whether to take part, it is important for you to understand why the research is being done and what it will involve. Please take sufficient time (24 hours recommended) to read the following information carefully before you decide whether you wish to take part. You are welcome to discuss this project with others if you wish before you make your decision. Please contact the researcher via E.m.holtby@edu.salford.ac.uk if there is anything that is not clear or if you would like more information.
2. What is the purpose of the study?
To investigate the impacts, whether they are positives or negatives, of specialist secondary schools on girls with Autism as perceived by the educators based on their experiences. With the focus on gaining insight on how specialist schools’ impact autistic female students’ educational development, social development and mental health.
3. Why have I been invited to take part?
You have been invited to take part because you are an educator of Autistic girls in a secondary education setting.
4. Do I have to take part?
It is up to you to decide whether to take part. If you do decide to take part, you will be asked to sign a consent form. When you are participating, if you change your mind you can withdraw at any time without giving a reason, and there will not be any negative consequences. You can request a copy of the information sheet by contacting the researcher.
5. What will happen to me if I take part?
When you agree to the study you will work with the researcher to find a time that suits you to conduct the 30-minute online study. This study consists of 8 questions (not including follow ups and probes) based on the topic of specialist secondary schools’ educators’ experiences of providing support to autistic female students. The 8 questions will be provided to the you during the study. This study will be recorded for the purposes of transcribing the study to analyse the data that was gathered. After the study you will be debriefed by being given a debrief form that contains links for further support, plus you will be able to withdraw from the study at any time with the unique ID code given to you by the researcher.
6. What are the possible disadvantages and risks of taking part?
There are no serious disadvantages to taking part in this study.
7. What are the possible benefits of taking part?
We cannot promise the study will help you but the information we get from the study will help to increase the understanding of specialist secondary education impacts on its autistic female students. We are a university and so it is part of our reason for being that we advance knowledge through research as well as through teaching. Your participation in this research helps us to do that.
8. What if there is a problem?
If you have a concern about any aspect of this study, you should ask to speak to the researcher by email E.m.holtby@edu.salford.ac.uk who will do their best to answer your questions.
Following this, if you have any issues or complaints, you may contact the research supervisor David Tate by email d.tate2@salford.ac.uk.
If the matter is still not resolved, please forward your concerns to Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, Co-Chair of the Health Taught Ethics Panel l.dubrow-marshall@salford.ac.uk, or Dr Anna Cooper-Ryan, Co-Chair of the Health Taught Ethics Panel a.m.cooper-ryan@salford.ac.uk.
9. Will my taking part in the study be kept confidential?
All information which is collected about you during the research will be kept strictly confidential. Participants’ names and ID codes will be anonymous and therefore referred to in the study as participant 1 for example. Participant interview transcripts will be stored on the University’s OneDrive which is password protected, and the anonymised data will be stored for a minimum of 3 years.
Please note that your anonymised data (including any personal data and special categories of personal data processed according to conditions of article 6 (paragraph 1(a)) and article 9 (paragraphs 2(a) and 2(j)) of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) 2018 respectively) will be used in the researcher’s data analysis and dissertation as part of a degree course, and potentially in any related publications or conference presentations. Here is the link to the University’s Research Privacy Notice that sets out details about the University’s processing of personal information for research purposes: https://www.salford.ac.uk/privacy/introduction/research-privacy-notice
10. What will happen if I don’t carry on with the study?
You may withdraw at any time during taking part in the study by telling the researcher without giving a reason. If you decide to withdraw from the study all the information and data collected from you up until the point of withdrawal will be destroyed. Furthermore, you can ask to have your data removed up to one week after participating in the study without giving a reason. If you wish to withdraw from the study, please email the researcher E.m.holtby@edu.salford.ac.uk with your participant ID code to request for your data to be removed.
11. What will happen to the results of the research study?
The results of the study will be used as part of the researcher’s third year dissertation for the BSc Psychology impacts of specialist secondary schools on girls with autism from the perspectives of their educators course at the University of Salford, and potentially in future academic conferences and publications.
12. Who is organising or sponsoring the research?
This research is being carried out as part of the BSc Psychology course at the University of Salford.
13. Further information and contact details:
If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact:
Following this, if you have any issues or complaints, you may contact the research supervisor David Tate by email d.tate2@salford.ac.uk.
If the matter is still not resolved, please forward your concerns to Dr Linda Dubrow-Marshall, Co-Chair of the Health Taught Ethics Panel l.dubrow-marshall@salford.ac.uk, or Dr Anna Cooper-Ryan, Co-Chair of the Health Taught Ethics Panel a.m.cooper-ryan@salford.ac.uk.
If you experience any distress after your participation, you may contact the following resources for additional support or contact your GP for mental health support:
General questions for the University of Salford – askus@salford.ac.uk
How to find therapy or counselling – https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/drugs-and-treatments/talking-therapy-and-counselling/how-to-find-a-therapist/
Counselling for teachers from Educational Support – https://www.educationsupport.org.uk/get-help/help-for-you/helpline/
Samaritans 24hour helpline – https://www.samaritans.org/how-we-can-help/contact-samaritan/
If you are interested in taking part in the above investigation, please book an appointment using the system here: https://outlook.office365.com/owa/calendar/SpecialistSecondaryTeachersSupportingAutisticFemaleStudent@edu.salford.ac.uk/bookings/