Editorial

Citation

Chaplin, E. and McCarthy, J. (2020), "Editorial", Advances in Autism, Vol. 6 No. 1, pp. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1108/AIA-01-2020-054

Welcome to the first edition of 2020. The journal is now celebrating its sixth year and we would like to thank Emerald who have supported us throughout from when we first pitched the idea for a journal aimed at professionals from all areas working with autistic individuals, with contributions from the autistic community and their carers. The last six years has given us the opportunity to look in more depth at a number of areas that affect the everyday life of people and to challenge some of our own assumptions as we have met different groups run by autistic and neurotypical adults.

In the next year, we are going to introduce new topics including a special edition focussing on employment, and also aim to build on the successful women’s edition by promoting a number of articles that celebrate diversity. At the end of the editorial, we explain the types of papers we welcome from potential authors. We are also looking at ideas for special editions and welcome any suggestions our readers and contributors may have.

This issue features papers from a range of stakeholder perspectives and includes innovation using virtual reality (VR), perspectives from high secure psychiatric care (HSPC) offering an insight into this unique population and he impact of training on staff and the learning from this for the future. There are also contributions examining the validity of the Contingencies of Self-Worth Scale (CSWS) and perceptions on alternatives to Applied Behavioural Analysis (ABA).

The first paper from Politis and colleagues presents a responsible research and innovation, example, in conversation skills training for people with autism, using VR. Although a growing area of interest there is still much to learn on the potential capabilities of the use of VR in education, training and treatment. It is also a great medium to create new experiences and include people that may have been excluded in the past or who were unable to take part in activities. This paper whilst looking at the opportunity VR may offer also ensures an ethical and sustainable innovation process is followed. This is necessary if we are to find an optimum use and determine what does not work or be harmful in the long term such as overuse or continued use of programmes.

The second paper from Murphy and Allely is a review of the available literature targeting the assessment and management of individuals with an autism spectrum disorder admitted to HSPC. Traditionally the research focus in HSPC clinical environments has been on other patient/service user groups. This disparity in research has led to less awareness of the risk factors and clinical management of this group. This paper as well as bring together current literature also outlines future research and clinical targets if this groups is going to achieve parity with other patient groups in HSPC.

The third paper from Murphy and Grace Broyd evaluate autism awareness training provided to staff working in a HSPC hospital. This follows on from the previous paper addressing the current gaps in inequality in attempting to create awareness and to improve knowledge of staff working with this group in HSPC. The consequences of poor and ill-informed care as witnessed in supposed specialist intellectual disability are all too apparent, so these types of service innovations need to be applauded. This paper comes at a time in the UK when autism training has become mandatory for not just HSPC, but for all health and social care staff which will be named in the memory of Oliver McGowan www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-bristol-50301184.

The fourth paper from Mei Lim reviews recent literature to understand the neurobiological and psychological perspective of emotion regulation highlighting psychosocial interventions that are important for further research and development as these types of treatment for autistic people are currently limited in availability.

The fifth paper from Ogawa and Kojima aims to validate the CSWS for adolescents with autism spectrum disorder examining the association between contingencies of self-worth and subjective adjustment to school.

The final paper from Kupferstein, further highlights perspectives on ABA which has featured in a number of recent editions including a letter to the Editor in Edition 5.4. This latest study examines a group of autistic people and their care givers who have chosen interventions other than ABA and is their evidence of the long term impacts of this.

We hope you enjoy this edition of the journal and wish to thank you for your continuing support of Advances in Autism. We invite contributions from our readers to the journal and welcome a variety of papers on areas including innovative and evidence based practice, research, case studies, service and policy-related issues and literature reviews. We welcome submissions from the range of health and social care professionals, but additionally those who use services and people who care for them. If you would like to know more about how to submit your work for publication please contact us at (mail to: chapline@lsbu.ac.uk).