My project for the 2022 University Research Forum encompasses changes in accessing services for children with autism in the European Union, specifically, Luxembourg. As a Global Health minor, I completed an immersion experience. Mine took place last semester at Fondation Autisme Luxembourg, an organization that has three care centers for children and adults on the autism spectrum. The center is in a small town in the country of Luxembourg. My experience at Fondation Autisme Luxembourg, or FAL, prompted me to think about the support provisions that children in Luxembourg and children in European countries receive as a whole. Therefore, I focused my literature review research on collecting data on how service provisions in the European Union and Luxembourg are changing. To make it more specific, I looked into the changes that public schools in Luxembourg have been implementing to make it more accessible for those with autism spectrum disorder. I also investigated support services outside of school, like the center I worked for, and other opportunities for care. From this research, I found that public schools have recently changed their regulations to be more inclusive in the classroom and that other support centers like FAL have been opened in Luxembourg. There has also been a development of a robot that can help children on the autism spectrum regulate their emotions! Although all of these aspects are great, Luxembourg still has to work on its inclusivity towards children with autism. For example, the public school system can turn away or expel students whose behavior they claim they cannot handle. Overall, there have been positive changes made in support for children with autism in Luxembourg, but there are still changes that need to be made.
Author: Mary Gerding
Advisors: Cameron Hay-Rollins, Anthropology and Global Health Studies and Paul Flaspohler, Psychology
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