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Irene Lacruz receives the Enrique Fuentes Quintana Award for Doctoral Theses

  • Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders. Inma Fernández Research Group (INVTEA)
  • December 13th, 2024
Irene Lacruz holding the award diploma at the Funcas Foundation photocall.

Dr. Irene Lacruz Pérez, a member of the INVTEA group, has been awarded the Enrique Fuentes Quintana Award for Doctoral Theses in the category of Political Science, Sociology, and Communication (2022-2023 edition), granted by the Funcas Foundation.

The award-winning thesis, titled “Social representation of autism spectrum disorder: Implications for educational and social Inclusion”, was supervised by Drs. Raúl Tárraga Mínguez, Carlos Caurín Alonso, and Antonio José Morales Hernández, as part of the Doctorate Program in Specific Didactics at the University of Valencia.

The awarded research focuses on the analysis of the social representation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in two key areas:

  • Pre-service teachers: Their attitudes and knowledge about students with ASD were analysed, as these are determining factors for their inclusion in educational environments.
  • Media: The representation of ASD in written press and Internet was studied, highlighting how these discourses contribute to shaping attitudes and knowledge in society, particularly among teachers.

The thesis provides relevant practical implications for the initial training of teachers, as well as recommendations to improve the representation of ASD in the media. The ultimate aim is to reduce barriers and promote a more inclusive society.

The granting of this award reaffirms the relevance of the work carried out by the INVTEA group in the field of identifying and reducing barriers to the educational and social inclusion of students with ASD.

 

Derived Publications
The results from the award-winning doctoral thesis can be consulted in the following scientific publications:

  • Lacruz-Pérez, I., Sanz-Cervera, P., & Tárraga-Mínguez, R. (2021). Teachers’ attitudes toward educational inclusion in Spain: A systematic review. Education Sciences, 11(2), 58. https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci11020058
  • Lacruz-Pérez, I., Pastor-Cerezuela, G., Tárraga-Mínguez, R., & Lüke, T. (2023). Implicit and explicit measurement of pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 39(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/08856257.2023.2185858
  • Lacruz-Pérez, I., Sanz-Cervera, P., Pastor-Cerezuela, G., & Tárraga-Mínguez, R. (2021). Análisis de conocimientos sobre aulas de comunicación y lenguaje de futuros/as maestros/as. Revista Fuentes, 23(1), 53-63. https://doi.org/10.12795/revistafuentes.2021.v23.i1.12291
  • Lacruz‐Pérez, I., Pastor‐Cerezuela, G., Caurín‐Alonso, C., Morales‐Hernández, A. J., & Tárraga‐Mínguez, R. (2024). Debunking neuromyths: Pre‐service teachers' insights on autism spectrum disorder. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs. https://doi.org/10.1111/1471-3802.12733
  • Lacruz-Pérez, I., Morales-Hernández, A. J., Caurín-Alonso, C., & Tárraga-Mínguez, R. (2022). El eco del autismo en la prensa española: una comparativa de tres décadas. Revista Prisma Social, (36), 117-141. https://revistaprismasocial.es/article/view/4582
  • Lacruz-Pérez, I., Sanz-Cervera, P., Pastor-Cerezuela, G., Gómez-Marí, I., & Tárraga-Mínguez, R. (2021). Is it possible to educate, intervene or “cure” autism spectrum disorder? A content analysis of YouTube videos. International journal of environmental research and public health, 18(5), 2350. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18052350