Musical Connections: Nurturing Musical Cultures in Autism Resource Bases Across the UK through Participatory Action Research
We are delighted to have been selected as one of four projects to receive funding from the AHRC Hub for Public Engagement with Music Research, through the University of Southampton’s Centre for Music Education and Social Justice. This grant will support our work to expand access to inclusive, creative and child-centred music education for autistic children and young people across the UK.
This one-year AHRC grant will allow us to build on the work of our Youth Music funded pilot programme, and we hope to deepen our understanding of the barriers to music provision within ARBs. We will examine whether these barriers stem from systemic issues, attitudes, or a lack of resources and training.
Our ARB programme is led by Alex Lupo, an autistic professional musician, and our research partner is Dr Beth Pickard (University of South Wales) who will help us to understand the landscape of music provision throughout the UK, and support the development of accessible resources and recommendations to enhance it. The project will be guided by a steering group of autistic musicians and shaped through consultation sessions with stakeholders in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. By centering autistic voices, we aim to co-develop music provision that directly responds to the needs and challenges identified.
The project will be delivered in four interconnected phases:
Phase 1: Map current music education practices and review existing research related to music provision in ARBs across the UK.
Phase 2: Consult with a diverse range of stakeholders—including autistic people—to understand their experiences, priorities, and aspirations.
Phase 3: Design and deliver two Musician-in-Residence projects in ARBs in South Wales and Northern Ireland, trialling practical, inclusive strategies for embedding music in pupils’ daily experiences and researching the impact of this approach.
Phase 4: Launch a suite of accessible resources and produce policy briefings informed by our findings, supporting future music provision within this expanding area of specialist education.
You can stay up to date on the project so far below.
