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John and Lorna Wing Foundation to fund new research collaboration

We are delighted to announce further research funding success for Scottish Autism. Our Centre for Practice Innovation has been awarded seed funding from The John and Lorna Wing Foundation for research that will work towards a relational understanding of autism support. The funding will support a partnership with the University of Strathclyde to investigate what constitutes enabling interactions between practitioners and supported autistic people.

The interactions and relationships between supported autistic people and the social care practitioners that work with them are often overlooked in research literature. Yet these relationships have a huge impact on the wellbeing of autistic people in supported living services.

The grant builds on our previous practice research on friendship and sociality in autism services as well as our commitment to participatory research. Our practice model is already focused on wellbeing. Our collaboration with the University of Strathclyde will allow us to draw on the expertise of Dr Anna Robinson on emotional wellbeing and principles of emotion-focused practice. We will be looking to work in partnership with supported autistic people in our services who have intellectual disabilities and may communicate in ways other than verbal interaction. Our aim is to develop an understanding of wellbeing and enabling relationships defined by our autistic partners.

The funding from the John and Lorna Wing Foundation will also provide an opportunity to build a broader community of practice dedicated to wellbeing and relational support in autism services. We aim to collaborate with a range of partners on building an evidence base for such practice models.

Research Manager, Dr Joe Long, said of the project: “We are honoured to receive this funding from the John and Lorna Wing Foundation which will support us to take the next steps with our practice research programme. The grant provides a great opportunity for collaboration and relationship-building and we are excited to be working with the University of Strathclyde on this work.

Dr Anna Robinson of the University of Strathclyde commented: It is such an honour to receive John and Lorna Wing Foundation funding supporting one of the key areas identified as a research priority by the autistic community. This is an exciting opportunity that will enable the University of Strathclyde and Centre for Practice Innovation to conduct collaborative research into the impact of emotion-focused practice on relational care and wellbeing in the lives of autistic people.   

You can read more about Scottish Autism’s approach to research in a recent article here.