Dr Prithvi Perepa

• Doctorate in Philosophy (Autism and Cultural Perceptions), University of Birmingham 
• Postgraduate Certificate in Speech Difficulties, University of Sheffield 
• Postgraduate Certificate in Research in Education, University of Birmingham 
• Post Graduate Certificate (Learning and Teaching in Higher Education), University of East London 
• Master in Education (Autism), University of Birmingham

Prithvi started his career as a special needs teacher and worked with children on the autism spectrum across the age range (from early years to further education) in India and the UK. He was an advisory teacher for children with autism within mainstream schools where he mainly supported children and staff in early years and primary school settings. Later he worked as a disability advisor at the London South Bank University. In addition to educational settings, he has experience of working in adult care, both in supported living and independent living settings. He has worked for various national and regional charities where he developed parent support groups, established family support teams, and managed play schemes.

Before joining Birmingham, he has worked as a Senior Lecturer at the University of East London and the University of Northampton and was programme leader for special educational needs programmes at both the universities. He developed the MA in Autism programme at the University of Northampton.

• Autism (Children)
• MA Education (Inclusion and Disability)
• MA/ PGCert Education (Inclusion and Special Educational Needs) Dubai Campus

Prithvi supervises doctoral students in the field of autism and education. He is particularly interested in supervising students who want to explore intersectionality of autism and culture, autism and sexuality and co-occurrence of autism and intellectual disabilities.

Prithvi supervises doctoral students in the field of autism and education.

Current students: 

Maram Alharthi
Inderjit Baines 
Lorna Bailey
Charlotte Brookes
Elaine Davis-Kimble
Suzanne Fields

Former students who have completed their PhD 

Melvin Attard- Exploring the issues in autism training for Paediatricians, mainstream secondary school teachers and police officers in Malta 

Karam Bhogal -  School practitioners’ perceptions of the impact of Intensive Interaction on the emotional wellbeing of pupils with severe intellectual disabilities and autism

Amina Dawood- Affective Computational Model: to Infer Actual Signals of Students’ Affective Status using Deep Machine Learning  

Ratika Malkani - Investigating the Educational Opportunities Provided for First Generation Learners in Rural Maharashtra, India 

Julie Prentice - How are children and young people with an Autism Spectrum Diagnosis Supported to Understand Autism and their Diagnosis

Tanya Richardson - An investigation into the relationship between the quality of children’s speech and early years environments

Clare Stockley- Leaping the Hurdles: Using an Ecological Approach to Develop Physical Education for Autistic Students: An Action Research Study

Aikaterini Tavoulari - Disability, attitudes and stigma in Greek society”: Exploring the perceptions of caregivers and professionals regarding the repetitive behaviour of children with vision impairment and children on the autism spectrum 

Prithvi is interested in being involved in research in the field of autism which leads to practical benefits. He has authored journal articles, book chapters and books focusing on various aspects of autism. He has been a Principal or Co-investigator for various research, knowledge exchange projects and consultations. Funders have included Autism Education Trust, Department for Education, ESRC, UNICEF, and Whole School SEND.

Current and recent projects include:

PI- Teacher Preparedness for Teaching Students with Autism (2022-23), funded by Al-Qasimi Foundation- Ras Al-Khaimah

PI- Engaging with families of autistic pupils who are marginalised due to educational exclusions, ethnicity, linguistic and social status (2022-23), funded by ESRC IAA

Co-I- Understanding school workforce experiences regarding access to, and the impact of, special educational needs and/or disability (SEND) continuing professional development (CPD) and expertise (2021-22), funded by DfE and Whole School SEND

PI- Whole School SEND Autism Resource Suite (2020-21), funded by Department for Education

Co-I- Developing best practice for schools working with marginalised autistic pupils and their families, (2020-2021) funded by UKRI

Some of the previous projects:

Co-I- Autism and school exclusion: A digital resource for school leaders and teachers (2020-21), ESRC IAA grant

PI- Whole School SEND Autism Resource Suite, funded by Department for Education (2020-21)

Co-PI- Autism and school exclusion: A digital resource for school leaders and teachers, (2020-2021) funded by ESRC Impact Acceleration Account

PI- Educational inclusion of children with autism in India- research dialogue, (2019-20), funded by Global Challenge Research Fund

Co-PI Investigation of the causes and implications of exclusion for autistic children and young people, (2019-2020) funded by UKRI

PI- A feasibility study for the application of the AET professional development model for the children’s social work community (2017-18), funded by Autism Education Trust

PI- Situation Analysis on Inclusive Education and Children with Autism in the Sultanate of Oman- Ten-Year Autism Strategy and Five-Year Autism Action Plan for children with ASD (2015-2016) funded by UNICEF Oman

PI- An investigation of teachers’ attitudes to teaching sex and relationships education to students on the autism spectrum (2013) funded by University of East London