School of Education

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Debra Costley

Associate Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences

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Biography

Dr Debra Costley has over thirty years of experience in education, particularly special education, in the UK, Australia and the USA. She has worked in special schools, further and higher education in Australia and the UK. She returned to the UK three years ago and is currently rebuilding her special education and particularly autism profile by making contacts with key organisations and individuals. Prior to joining the University Debra was National Director, Aspect Practice for Autism Spectrum Australia (Aspect). This involved managing multiple research and evaluation projects and using outcomes in conjunction with evidence informed practice to develop consultancies and workshops for a range of organizations in the Asia Pacific region.

Autism Spectrum Australia runs 9 independent special schools for children on the autism spectrum in New South Wales and South Australia where the education is based on the Aspect Comprehensive Approach for Education (ACAE). Debra was instrumental in researching the elements that make up a comprehensive education model for students on the autism spectrum and worked with a team of teachers to develop a Manual for the approach, which as well as being used in all Aspect schools is now used a basis for consultancies in Singapore, Malaysia and China.

Debra is passionate about translating research into practice and finding innovative ways to close the research to practice gap.

Expertise Summary

Dr Debra Costley has an international reputation in the field of autism across the lifespan, with a particular focus on education. Her research in the last ten years has been focused on autism, interventions, and outcomes for children and adults. Examples of interventions evaluated include, Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication Handicapped Children (TEACCH); Pivotal Response Training (PRT); Secret Agent Society social and emotional skills program (SAS); Language Acquisition through Motor Planning (LAMP); and iPads for teaching and learning. Debra was lead author on a book based on research and practical experience aimed at teachers in mainstream schools called A Practical Guide for Teachers of Students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder in Secondary Education. In addition, Debra led the first national projects in Australia that gathered the views of adults and adolescents on a range of subjects from education to employment, in order to identify their experiences, needs and aspirations. These two studies have been used to influence Government policy in Australia and have been published in a variety of forms, including full and summary reports, journal articles, and most recently a book entitled Shining a Light on the Autism Spectrum: Experiences and Aspiration of Adults.

Debra is a member of the NAHT sponsored Autism and Girls Forum, which seeks to highlight the needs and experiences of autistic women and girls.

Previous research was focused on vocational and workplace education and more general special education. In addition, Debra is interested in research methods and has specialized in evaluation.

Debra has always worked to ensure research outcomes are accessible to professionals and parents as well as the general community. To facilitate this translation of research to practice Debra has set up new initiatives in universities and a not-for-profit organization to share research and professional knowledge through workshops, consultancy, publications in a range of forms, forums and conferences. In addition, she is committed to co-creating research with autistic individuals in the spirit of the 'nothing about us without us' autism advocacy movement.

Teaching Summary

Dr Debra Costley is interested in special education, inclusive education and professional practice. In addition, she is very interested in research, evaluation, evidence informed practice, and… read more

Research Summary

Dr Costley is currently establishing links for new projects in the UK, which will focus on special education, with a particular interest in autism in education. She is keen to build on her network of… read more

Recent Publications

Autism related (autism and girls; anxiety and stress; peer education and support; strengths and interests)

Moderate learning difficulties in special and mainstream schools and colleges (especially secondary and further)

Students with special educational needs in non-traditional settings, including further and higher education and training, home-schooling, alternative provision, and employment

Transition

Student anxiety (because of special needs or school curriculum and testing)

Education policy and practice

Dr Debra Costley is interested in special education, inclusive education and professional practice. In addition, she is very interested in research, evaluation, evidence informed practice, and practice based inquiry.

With Dr Anne Emerson, she developed and designed a new module for the MA Special and Inclusive Education called 'Education for Students on the Autism Spectrum', which draws on current research and practical experience.

Current Research

Dr Costley is currently establishing links for new projects in the UK, which will focus on special education, with a particular interest in autism in education. She is keen to build on her network of collaborators in the UK.

Current projects include an investigation of the strategies used by young people on the autism spectrum to cope with anxiety in schools, particularly focussing on masking behaviours. Debra has a Research Development Grant from the School of Education to establish the first phase of this project, which involves autistic co-researchers. There are two important elements to this project; first the co-creation of research; and second interviews with autistic secondary school students. The autistic co-researchers took part in three focus groups (for which they were paid) to help design the next phase of the project which was inlcuded interview questions for secondary school students. In addition to the autistic adults, the project investigators are Dr Danielle Ropar and Dr Elizabeth Sheppard, from Psychology and Dr Anne Emerson from the School of Education. The results of the co-researcher experience as well as the secondary school interviews about anxiety have been presented at the University of Birmingham Autism study weekend; the University of Nottingham, School of Education Autism Awareness Month seminar; and the Asia Pacific Autism Conference (APAC Singapore) 2019. Two journal papers are in development and a funding proposal has been submitted to the Nuffield Foundation to expand the project scope.

Past Research

Dr Debra Costley has been a researcher for over twenty-five years and has worked in university research centres at the University of Warwick in the UK and Western Sydney University in Australia. During that time she has carried out over forty research projects in the areas of education, special education, vocational and work-based learning.

Future Research

Dr Debra Costley is interested in developing her research portfolio to include whole school approaches to the inclusion of students with special educational needs in the UK, with a focus on Universal Design for Learning and planned transitions. She is also looking for opportunities to build on her experience and expertise of the opportunities available for young people with additional needs for transition post school.

Dr Costley is experienced in qualitative and quantitative methods which she uses individually or in combination depending on the research questions and expected outputs and outcomes.

She is also an expert in evaluation and has been a member of the Australasian Evaluation Society for over ten years.

School of Education

University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham, NG8 1BB

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