Opening doors to young people with autism for post school transition to university: Super conductor and the big game orchestra

The empirical evidence on the evaluation of programs for the post school transition to university for youth with autism remains scarce. Super Conductor and the Big Game Orchestra was a strength-based creative technologies pilot project designed to establish a new transition pathway model for young people on the autism spectrum from secondary school to university study. Eight persons with autism (7 males/1 female, mean age=18.37yrs, range: 16-22 yrs) worked with a mentoring team of artists, musicians, game developers and designers to create a multiplayer computer game. The completed multi-level computer game was presented by the participants at the last Queensland Music Festival with a live orchestra. The project ran for 10 full days over two weeks and in addition to creative mentors (n=4), involved participation from University staff (2 student ambassadors, 2 disability advisors) and participant family members. A qualitative evaluation of the creative project was conducted via individual interviews with all participants before and after their engagement with the creative workshops. Thematic analysis, applied to a total of 32 interview transcripts, generated main themes and subthemes pertaining to participants’ views on the gains, challenges, support needs and recommendations for planning future transition projects. Preliminary findings indicated positive gains for all participants. Youth with autism perceived the overall creative project as an enjoyable experience stimulating their interest for university study but found the intensive pace of work rather challenging and would prefer greater structure in the setup of the project. Creative mentors gained deep insights into the learning preferences, social challenges, anxieties and coping strategies of people with autism. Disability advisors and student ambassadors acquired a better understanding of the concerns and needs of young people with autism in regards to starting university study. Key considerations for designing and implementing successful autism-specific university transition programs will be discussed.