{"id":{"repo_id":"oxford-brookes","oai_identifier":"tle:0a623ec9-0e26-4407-9c28-651f48aaf961:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/oxford-brookes/tle:0a623ec9-0e26-4407-9c28-651f48aaf961:d6bd9758-527a-46cd-bfe2-c433766e8fca:1","repository":{"repo_id":"oxford-brookes","name":"Oxford Brookes University","base_url":"https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/oai"},"display":{"title":"A sense of purpose: Perspectives of autistic young people","abstract":"This study sought to contribute to the nascent research area of purpose with autistic young people (AYP) in Britain. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, it adopted participatory principles and explored ‘a sense of purpose’ (SoP) as encountered by this group. Existing research with AYP in this context is very limited. Recognised as significant by key authors, mainly in the United States (US), for example, Damon, Menon and Bronk (2003), purpose has been associated with important life benefits, such as a longer life span and greater life satisfaction. It is recognised to be an important predictor of physical and mental health (McKnight and Kashdan 2009). Autistic people are at greater risk of mental health difficulties, Lai et al. (2019) suggesting as many as 70% have co-occurring mental health/psychiatric conditions. This provided impetus for the study, which considered whether exploration of the concept of purpose might be an area that is useful for this vulnerable group towards their wellbeing. Ten AYP aged 16+ years from two specialist autistic educational institutions in Southern England took part in semi-structured interviews, then focus groups or follow-up meetings. The concept and experience of ‘a sense of purpose’ was explored with participants, focusing on their daily lives (‘micro-purpose’), then on how ‘purpose’ might be experienced over years or decades (‘macro purpose’). Participants engaged in conversations about purpose based on past experiences and when envisaging their futures. Their views were also gained on future work in the field, including potential barriers to purpose for AYP. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts of those who took part. Four themes were identified: i) We are who we make ourselves to be; ii) Not wanting to be held back by anybody’s anything; iii) Contemplating purpose in a world of others; and iv) Teach people how to overcome purpose. The participants’ contributions indicated that there could be an advantage to accommodating work on purpose within the school curriculum for autistic secondary/Post 16 students. They largely agreed that purpose should be taught, and in a way that makes the concept accessible to the individual. They felt that this might enable some AYP to see the positive impact of their actions upon the lives of others.","abstract_html":"This study sought to contribute to the nascent research area of purpose with autistic young people (AYP) in Britain. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, it adopted participatory principles and explored ‘a sense of purpose’ (SoP) as encountered by this group. Existing research with AYP in this context is very limited. Recognised as significant by key authors, mainly in the United States (US), for example, Damon, Menon and Bronk (2003), purpose has been associated with important life benefits, such as a longer life span and greater life satisfaction. It is recognised to be an important predictor of physical and mental health (McKnight and Kashdan 2009). Autistic people are at greater risk of mental health difficulties, Lai et al. (2019) suggesting as many as 70% have co-occurring mental health/psychiatric conditions. This provided impetus for the study, which considered whether exploration of the concept of purpose might be an area that is useful for this vulnerable group towards their wellbeing. Ten AYP aged 16+ years from two specialist autistic educational institutions in Southern England took part in semi-structured interviews, then focus groups or follow-up meetings. The concept and experience of ‘a sense of purpose’ was explored with participants, focusing on their daily lives (‘micro-purpose’), then on how ‘purpose’ might be experienced over years or decades (‘macro purpose’). Participants engaged in conversations about purpose based on past experiences and when envisaging their futures. Their views were also gained on future work in the field, including potential barriers to purpose for AYP. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts of those who took part. Four themes were identified: i) We are who we make ourselves to be; ii) Not wanting to be held back by anybody’s anything; iii) Contemplating purpose in a world of others; and iv) Teach people how to overcome purpose. The participants’ contributions indicated that there could be an advantage to accommodating work on purpose within the school curriculum for autistic secondary/Post 16 students. They largely agreed that purpose should be taught, and in a way that makes the concept accessible to the individual. They felt that this might enable some AYP to see the positive impact of their actions upon the lives of others.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Perrin, Jacqueline"],"institution":"Oxford Brookes University","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Wright, Susannah","Summerscales, Ian"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":null,"date_issued":"","date_published":null,"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:42:40Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":["All rights reserved"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://doi.org/10.24384/bhrd-0n52","outbound_label":"DOI","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Perrin, Jacqueline","Wright, Susannah","Summerscales, Ian"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Perrin, Jacqueline"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Oxford Brookes University"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["thesis"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["All rights reserved"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://doi.org/10.24384/bhrd-0n52","https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/0a623ec9-0e26-4407-9c28-651f48aaf961/1/Perrin2023ASenseOfPurpose.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["This study sought to contribute to the nascent research area of purpose with autistic young people (AYP) in Britain. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, it adopted participatory principles and explored ‘a sense of purpose’ (SoP) as encountered by this group. Existing research with AYP in this context is very limited. Recognised as significant by key authors, mainly in the United States (US), for example, Damon, Menon and Bronk (2003), purpose has been associated with important life benefits, such as a longer life span and greater life satisfaction. It is recognised to be an important predictor of physical and mental health (McKnight and Kashdan 2009). Autistic people are at greater risk of mental health difficulties, Lai et al. (2019) suggesting as many as 70% have co-occurring mental health/psychiatric conditions. This provided impetus for the study, which considered whether exploration of the concept of purpose might be an area that is useful for this vulnerable group towards their wellbeing. Ten AYP aged 16+ years from two specialist autistic educational institutions in Southern England took part in semi-structured interviews, then focus groups or follow-up meetings. The concept and experience of ‘a sense of purpose’ was explored with participants, focusing on their daily lives (‘micro-purpose’), then on how ‘purpose’ might be experienced over years or decades (‘macro purpose’). Participants engaged in conversations about purpose based on past experiences and when envisaging their futures. Their views were also gained on future work in the field, including potential barriers to purpose for AYP. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts of those who took part. Four themes were identified: i) We are who we make ourselves to be; ii) Not wanting to be held back by anybody’s anything; iii) Contemplating purpose in a world of others; and iv) Teach people how to overcome purpose. The participants’ contributions indicated that there could be an advantage to accommodating work on purpose within the school curriculum for autistic secondary/Post 16 students. They largely agreed that purpose should be taught, and in a way that makes the concept accessible to the individual. They felt that this might enable some AYP to see the positive impact of their actions upon the lives of others."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A sense of purpose: Perspectives of autistic young people"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Perrin, Jacqueline","Wright, Susannah","Summerscales, Ian"],"dc:creator":["Perrin, Jacqueline"],"dc:description":["This study sought to contribute to the nascent research area of purpose with autistic young people (AYP) in Britain. Using hermeneutic phenomenology, it adopted participatory principles and explored ‘a sense of purpose’ (SoP) as encountered by this group. Existing research with AYP in this context is very limited. Recognised as significant by key authors, mainly in the United States (US), for example, Damon, Menon and Bronk (2003), purpose has been associated with important life benefits, such as a longer life span and greater life satisfaction. It is recognised to be an important predictor of physical and mental health (McKnight and Kashdan 2009). Autistic people are at greater risk of mental health difficulties, Lai et al. (2019) suggesting as many as 70% have co-occurring mental health/psychiatric conditions. This provided impetus for the study, which considered whether exploration of the concept of purpose might be an area that is useful for this vulnerable group towards their wellbeing. Ten AYP aged 16+ years from two specialist autistic educational institutions in Southern England took part in semi-structured interviews, then focus groups or follow-up meetings. The concept and experience of ‘a sense of purpose’ was explored with participants, focusing on their daily lives (‘micro-purpose’), then on how ‘purpose’ might be experienced over years or decades (‘macro purpose’). Participants engaged in conversations about purpose based on past experiences and when envisaging their futures. Their views were also gained on future work in the field, including potential barriers to purpose for AYP. Reflexive thematic analysis was used to examine the accounts of those who took part. Four themes were identified: i) We are who we make ourselves to be; ii) Not wanting to be held back by anybody’s anything; iii) Contemplating purpose in a world of others; and iv) Teach people how to overcome purpose. The participants’ contributions indicated that there could be an advantage to accommodating work on purpose within the school curriculum for autistic secondary/Post 16 students. They largely agreed that purpose should be taught, and in a way that makes the concept accessible to the individual. They felt that this might enable some AYP to see the positive impact of their actions upon the lives of others."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier":["https://doi.org/10.24384/bhrd-0n52","https://radar.brookes.ac.uk/radar/file/0a623ec9-0e26-4407-9c28-651f48aaf961/1/Perrin2023ASenseOfPurpose.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher":["Oxford Brookes University"],"dc:rights":["All rights reserved"],"dc:title":["A sense of purpose: Perspectives of autistic young people"],"dc:type":["thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T03:42:40Z"}