title: Toward vocational training for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Malaysia: Challenges, opportunities and reasonable hope

authors: Tang, Poh Thin

subjects: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

abstract: The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (2004) noted that people with learning difficulties including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), face challenges when attempting to get a job after completing their secondary schooling. The number of young people with ASD has placed pressure on the public education system to provide pathways to access vocational training and to enter the workforce. Given this pressure, it is timely to identify what opportunities are available and what challenges young people face in accessing these pathways. This study examined vocational training for young people with ASD in the Malaysian context. It sought multiple perspectives from young people with ASD, their parents, school teachers and their NASOM (the National Autism Society of Malaysia) teachers. This wider perspective showed the extent of the challenges, not only for young people but also for families, teachers, schools, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and potential employers.

A narrative inquiry methodology based on Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) three dimensions of space, time and social interaction was chosen as the overarching theoretical orientation of the study. Research field texts were collected through semi-structured interviews. The field texts were analysed using a narrative case study approach. The analysis highlighted complexities for young people, families, teachers and potential employers, at this significant developmental time in young people’s lives. In the midst of opportunities and challenges, the study notes the significance of an orientation to hope. Weingarten’s (2010) construct and practice of reasonable hope has been critical in making sense of the research findings. Practices of care, persistence, courage, determination, commitment, carefully structured steps, scaffolding learning opportunities, consistent and small acts of reasonable hope were identified in each of the case studies.

The findings indicated that many factors need to be considered to implement vocational training programmes successfully. In particular, the community's involvement in working alongside parents to support young people with ASD into employment was important, as parents held hope that their children’s future would involve successful transition into some kind of work or further education. Teachers and families emphasised a need for mainstream and NASOM teachers to be equipped with current knowledge and skills, so they can help the students gain skills and knowledge offered in vocational training programmes and career transition programmes. The findings suggested that career transition programmes might be a vital prerequisite or bridging pathway for young people with ASD to find work or further their education in a vocational training programme. Financial resources emerged as a limitation to what schools could provide for students to help them bridge some of the challenges. However, despite the challenges and constraints identified in relation to vocational training, there was also evidence of opportunities available for young people with ASD to pursue future possibilities, including work. “Doing hope” by young people, families, teachers, community and policymakers provided the pathways for these opportunities to be materialised.

text: Toward vocational training for young people with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Malaysia: Challenges, opportunities and reasonable hope The Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (2004) noted that people with learning difficulties including those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), face challenges when attempting to get a job after completing their secondary schooling. The number of young people with ASD has placed pressure on the public education system to provide pathways to access vocational training and to enter the workforce. Given this pressure, it is timely to identify what opportunities are available and what challenges young people face in accessing these pathways. This study examined vocational training for young people with ASD in the Malaysian context. It sought multiple perspectives from young people with ASD, their parents, school teachers and their NASOM (the National Autism Society of Malaysia) teachers. This wider perspective showed the extent of the challenges, not only for young people but also for families, teachers, schools, non- governmental organisations (NGOs) and potential employers.

A narrative inquiry methodology based on Clandinin and Connelly’s (2000) three dimensions of space, time and social interaction was chosen as the overarching theoretical orientation of the study. Research field texts were collected through semi-structured interviews. The field texts were analysed using a narrative case study approach. The analysis highlighted complexities for young people, families, teachers and potential employers, at this significant developmental time in young people’s lives. In the midst of opportunities and challenges, the study notes the significance of an orientation to hope. Weingarten’s (2010) construct and practice of reasonable hope has been critical in making sense of the research findings. Practices of care, persistence, courage, determination, commitment, carefully structured steps, scaffolding learning opportunities, consistent and small acts of reasonable hope were identified in each of the case studies.

The findings indicated that many factors need to be considered to implement vocational training programmes successfully. In particular, the community's involvement in working alongside parents to support young people with ASD into employment was important, as parents held hope that their children’s future would involve successful transition into some kind of work or further education. Teachers and families emphasised a need for mainstream and NASOM teachers to be equipped with current knowledge and skills, so they can help the students gain skills and knowledge offered in vocational training programmes and career transition programmes. The findings suggested that career transition programmes might be a vital prerequisite or bridging pathway for young people with ASD to find work or further their education in a vocational training programme. Financial resources emerged as a limitation to what schools could provide for students to help them bridge some of the challenges. However, despite the challenges and constraints identified in relation to vocational training, there was also evidence of opportunities available for young people with ASD to pursue future possibilities, including work. “Doing hope” by young people, families, teachers, community and policymakers provided the pathways for these opportunities to be materialised.

year: 2022

title: Identifying the volcanic eruption depicted in a Neolithic Painting at Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey

authors: Schmitt, Axel K.

abstract: A mural excavated at the Neolithic Çatalhöyük site (Central Anatolia, Turkey) has been interpreted as the oldest known map. Dating to ~6600 BCE, it putatively depicts an explosive summit eruption of the Hasan Dağı twin-peaks volcano located ~130 km northeast of Çatalhöyük, and a birds-eye view of a town plan in the foreground. This interpretation, however, has remained controversial not least because independent evidence for a contemporaneous explosive volcanic eruption of Hasan Dağı has been lacking. Here, we document the presence of andesitic pumice veneer on the summit of Hasan Dağı, which we dated using (U-Th)/He zircon geochronology. The (U-Th)/He zircon eruption age of 8.97±0.64 ka (or 6960±640 BCE; uncertainties 2σ) overlaps closely with ¹⁴C ages for cultural strata at Çatalhöyük, including level VII containing the “map” mural. A second pumice sample from a surficial deposit near the base of Hasan Dağı records an older explosive eruption at 28.9±1.5 ka. U-Th zircon crystallization ages in both samples range from near-eruption to secular equilibrium (>380 ka). Collectively, our results reveal protracted intrusive activity at Hasan Dağı punctuated by explosive venting, and provide the first radiometric ages for a Holocene explosive eruption which was most likely witnessed by humans in the area. Geologic and geochronologic lines of evidence thus support previous interpretations that residents of Çatalhöyük artistically represented an explosive eruption of Hasan Dağı volcano. The magmatic longevity recorded by quasi-continuous zircon crystallization coupled with new evidence for late-Pleistocene and Holocene explosive eruptions implicates Hasan Dağı as a potential volcanic hazard.

text: Identifying the volcanic eruption depicted in a Neolithic Painting at Çatalhöyük, Central Anatolia, Turkey A mural excavated at the Neolithic Çatalhöyük site (Central Anatolia, Turkey) has been interpreted as the oldest known map. Dating to ~6600 BCE, it putatively depicts an explosive summit eruption of the Hasan Dağı twin-peaks volcano located ~130 km northeast of Çatalhöyük, and a birds-eye view of a town plan in the foreground. This interpretation, however, has remained controversial not least because independent evidence for a contemporaneous explosive volcanic eruption of Hasan Dağı has been lacking. Here, we document the presence of andesitic pumice veneer on the summit of Hasan Dağı, which we dated using (U-Th)/He zircon geochronology. The (U-Th)/He zircon eruption age of 8.97±0.64 ka (or 6960±640 BCE; uncertainties 2σ) overlaps closely with ¹⁴C ages for cultural strata at Çatalhöyük, including level VII containing the “map” mural. A second pumice sample from a surficial deposit near the base of Hasan Dağı records an older explosive eruption at 28.9±1.5 ka. U-Th zircon crystallization ages in both samples range from near-eruption to secular equilibrium (>380 ka). Collectively, our results reveal protracted intrusive activity at Hasan Dağı punctuated by explosive venting, and provide the first radiometric ages for a Holocene explosive eruption which was most likely witnessed by humans in the area. Geologic and geochronologic lines of evidence thus support previous interpretations that residents of Çatalhöyük artistically represented an explosive eruption of Hasan Dağı volcano. The magmatic longevity recorded by quasi-continuous zircon crystallization coupled with new evidence for late-Pleistocene and Holocene explosive eruptions implicates Hasan Dağı as a potential volcanic hazard.

year: 2014

title: Community-university collaborations: creating hybrid research and collective identities

authors: Cave, Jennifer Barbara Jane

subjects: collaborative

abstract: In this article we explore the politics of community-university collaborative research and activism. We are scholars based in universities as well as members of various 'communities'-queer, Pasifika and Māori-hence we regularly venture beyond the formal research spaces of the academy and enter into critical collaborative research with others working in 'the community'. In what follows we first outline collaborative community-based research literature that advocates hybrid research collectivities. Second, we give some context and background to our methodologies that have enabled us to re-think collaborative research. Third, examples from our research are offered to illustrate the ways in which collaborative research constructs new collective identities. Finally, we conclude by arguing that social science scholars working across university-community boundaries may expand and multiply hybrid research collectives, and thereby effect positive social change at many levels

text: Community-university collaborations: creating hybrid research and collective identities In this article we explore the politics of community-university collaborative research and activism. We are scholars based in universities as well as members of various 'communities'-queer, Pasifika and Māori-hence we regularly venture beyond the formal research spaces of the academy and enter into critical collaborative research with others working in 'the community'. In what follows we first outline collaborative community-based research literature that advocates hybrid research collectivities. Second, we give some context and background to our methodologies that have enabled us to re-think collaborative research. Third, examples from our research are offered to illustrate the ways in which collaborative research constructs new collective identities. Finally, we conclude by arguing that social science scholars working across university-community boundaries may expand and multiply hybrid research collectives, and thereby effect positive social change at many levels

year: 2012