A Comparative Investigation of General and Special Education Elementary Teachers' Beliefs about Including Students with an Educational Disability of Autism in the General Education Setting

Overview & Synopsis

Inclusion of elementary students with an educational disability of autism in the general education classroom is becoming more prevalent in public school settings. One of the main reasons for the increase in inclusionary practices are federal and state laws, which state the least restrictive environment needs to be considered first when deciding a placement for a student with an educational disability. This study investigated elementary general education teacher and special education teachers' beliefs about the inclusion of elementary students with an educational disability of autism in the general education classroom. The Autism Attitude Scale for Teachers (AAST) was the survey used to identify the beliefs of educators about the inclusion of students with autism. General education teachers reported the supports they would need for the successful inclusion of students with autism within their classrooms. Special education teachers reported the supports they could provide to elementary general educators to facilitate successful inclusion of students with autism in the general education environment. The responses on the AAST demonstrated both groups of teachers had receptive beliefs towards the inclusion of students with autism in elementary general education classrooms. However, special educators had more receptive beliefs about inclusion of students with autism as compared to general educators. There was a statistically significant difference in the mean scores per educator on the AAST between elementary general educators and special educators as evidenced by ANOVA analysis. General education teachers reported through open ended questions the three most requested supports for successfully including students with autism in the general education environment as personal care assistant, training specific to autism and consultation with an autism specialist. Special education teachers reported through open ended questions the three supports they could provide to general education teachers as consultation with the general education teacher regarding the specifics of IEP and SDI, use of Boardmaker to develop picture schedules and communication boards, and development of functional behavior assessment and positive behavior support plans. It is important to recognize educators' beliefs about the inclusion of students with autism as they are programming and implementing the IEP of the included student on a regular basis and for future considerations. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]