An exploration on the role of the guidance counsellor in supporting autistic students in post primary school

The overall aim of the research study is to explore the role of the guidance counsellor in relation to autistic students in post primary school. As the fastest growing developmental disorder in the world (CDC 2020), the study aims to unearth the experiences of guidance practitioners and addresses a gap in research in relation to females on the autistic spectrum. An interpretivist paradigm using semi-structured, individual interviews was employed in this study, to gather the experiences of six guidance practitioners working in a variety of school settings. This helped to explicate the types of guidance counselling supports available to autistic students in post primary school, as well as identifying some psychosocial barriers that inhibit autistic students from accessing guidance provision. Braun and Clarke’s (2006) thematic approach to data analysis allows for a critical appraisal of the primary data, and elucidates the challenges and opportunities that exist. The main findings in this study, illustrate that the guidance counsellor practitioner recognises autism as a life- long condition, with a broad spectrum of neurodevelopmental disorders. They identified social, communication and sensory issues as problematic for autistic students in their care. Due to the anxiety experienced by many autistic students during periods of transition the findings highlight a need for CPD on progression routes to support autistic students to progress into FET, HE, employment and across the lifespan. The study illustrates, that the guidance counsellors adopt an integrated and holistic response to guidance counselling, which provides a multifaceted, flexible and available post-diagnosis support, to assist the inclusion of autistic students into the school environment. It recommends that this type of model is necessary across all secondary schools to support autistic students. Finally, a number of recommendations are put forward for policy, practice and research.