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General Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Inclusion for Children with Autism. Perri Rosen, M.S.Ed . Erin Rotheram -Fuller, Ph.D. David S. Mandell , Sc.D. Working with Children with Autism in General Education Classrooms. (Simpson, de Boer- Ott , & Smith-Myles, 2003).
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General Education Teachers’ Perceptions of Inclusion for Children with Autism Perri Rosen, M.S.Ed. Erin Rotheram-Fuller, Ph.D. David S. Mandell, Sc.D.
Working with Children with Autism in General Education Classrooms (Simpson, de Boer-Ott, & Smith-Myles, 2003) • Children with autism experience a range of challenges: • Social interactions • Behavior (stereotypic, repetitive, self-stimulatory) • Language and communication • Academics and learning • Need for environmental sameness • Unique patterns of cognitive strengths and deficits
Rates of Inclusion for Children with Autism in the United States (National Center for Education Statistics, 2009)
General Education Teachers Critical to the success of inclusion programs (McGregor & Campbell, 2001) Mixed findings regarding teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion and children with autism (Cook, Cameron, & Tankersley, 2007; McGregor & Campbell, 2001; Robertson, Chamberlain, & Kasari, 2003) Attitudes may change based on nature of child disability (Avramidas & Norwich, 2011) Training and support may improve teacher attitudes about inclusion (Avramidas & Norwich, 2011)
Procedure Survey was developed and administered to teachers as part of a pilot Teachers were offered consultation services with student consultants through a School Psychology training program Teachers completed and returned surveys to consultants
Survey Measure • A four-part survey consisted of both quantitative and qualitative components • Part One: Demographic Information • 10 items • Part Two: Student Placement • 3 items, 4-point Likert-type scale (Completely Appropriate-Completely Inappropriate) • Part Three: Inclusion in Your School • 16 items, 4-point Likert-type scale (Strongly Agree-Strongly Disagree) • Part Four: Challenges and Supports for Inclusion • 4 items, open-ended response format
Teachers’ Perceptions of Challenges Among Classroom, Teacher, and Student Factors
Implications • Overall, teachers reported positive attitudes about including children with autism • The conversation may need to change: • Teachers felt their skills were strong, but that children may lack readiness • Despite high self-ratings of teacher competence, almost 90% of teachers reported a need for additional training