Masters Thesis

Teachers' views on including children with autism in general education settings

In recent years, there has been a growing movement for including children with special needs into general education classrooms. Some of the special needs children who are participating are children with autism. Autism is a developmental disorder that affects young children, and is usually diagnosed around the age of three. Many different types of educational programs and inclusion programs have been developed specifically for these children. Teachers are one of the main aspects of these programs that determine their success. Teachers may need some assistance and preparation to successfully mainstream and include children into their classrooms. Researchers have studied this topic by looking at a variety of variables. Some of the significant variables that the literature has discussed that could contribute to the teachers' willingness and readiness are efficacy, experience, and how feasible they think making certain adaptations are. The present study surveyed Humboldt County elementary school teachers, in general and special education, to investigate these variables and the relationships between them. There were 93 teachers who participated; 74 were regular education teachers and 19 were special education teachers. Teachers' willingness to include children with autism was found to be correlated with a several variables including the Teaching Efficacy Scale, Adaptation Scale, Value of Support Scale, and with variables related to the teachers' experience with autism. Significant relationships were found between the Efficacy Scale and the Adaptation Scales for the teachers, suggesting that teachers who had a higher perceived teaching efficacy found it more feasible to make adaptations in teaching and in the classroom. Four variables were found to be significant predictors of general education teachers' willingness to include children with autism in their classrooms. These variables were the Handling Difficulties Efficacy Subscale, Involvement Adaptation Subscale, being more willing with an aide, and valuing more training on autism. The findings of this study could be used to determine placements for children and have implications for providing teachers with appropriate resources and training.

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