Six Nations Elected Council (SNEC) has given approval to a doctoral student to carry out research within the Six Nations community on autism.

Grant Bruno, a University of Alberta PhD candidate, will work with Six Nations Child and Family Services and parents and caregivers of children and family members who have or are suspected of having autism and gather information on how much of an impact autism is having on First Nations communities.

Bruno says he believes that autism rates are higher on First Nations communities but there isn't enough data to say for certain. He is hoping that with this research, it could provide the framework to allow for more in depth studies to be developed on the prevalence of autism within first nations communities.

At the meeting, he shared the work he is looking to accomplish within Six Nations.

"This study is going to be me working with families and just getting their experiences of the challenges in their communities. It could be diagnostic, it could be getting services and supports, it could be something that I'm not even thinking about and so I'm really wanting to unpack that with the families," he said. "But also looking at what works, there's families in our communities that are doing absolutely amazing despite all the challenges that colonialism has brought to us, despite a lot of the disfunction that our communities unfortunately face, and what allows them to do that. How do we learn and turn those lessons into good policy and good services and supports for our families."

Bruno says he is looking to explore the traditional Indigenous understanding of autism and challenging the conventional model of dealing with autism.

"I really feel that our traditional knowledge and our understandings, and worldview and how we operate is very much at odds sometimes with the medical model, which is what autism really evolves into, and so [I'm] really thinking about wanting to challenge that and to challenge the status quo a bit," he said. "This study is really going to explore traditional understandings of autism and how we would've viewed it pre-contact and historically how it's evolved."

SNEC approved Bruno's request during the June 27 general council meeting. Bruno says he is in the final year of completing his PhD, and the conducting of research within the Six Nations community will be one of the final steps toward his completion of his PhD.

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