AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY INTO THE EFFECTS OF REGULAR EDUCATION TEACHER ATTITUDES ON THE SUCCESSFUL INCLUSION OF STUDENTS WITH ASPERGER SYNDROME PLACED IN REGULAR EDUCATION CLASSROOMS IN NEW SOUTH WALES

Background: In the past, students with autism tended to be segregated from their peers. The trend in Australia appears to be similar to that of the United States in that there now appears to have been an increasing trend towards the inclusion of children with autism in regular education settings as part of the movement towards including all students with disabilities in regular education. Currently, in NSW schools, students with an Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD), including Asperger Syndrome (AS), are catered for in both regular education (general) and special education settings.

Objectives: As part of a Doctoral thesis investigating the effects of mainstream teacher attitudes upon the successful placement of students identified as having AS into regular education classrooms in NSW schools, a pilot study was implemented with 30 regular education teachers. This pilot was used to test the integrity and applicability of a specifically developed questionnaire designed to identify attitudes which supported success of AS student placement in regular education classrooms in NSW schools. It sought to identify what teacher factors influence the successful inclusion of these students into regular classrooms? Are these results indicative of what research has identified in other countries? Are critical features identified which require further investigation?

Methods: Teacher attitudes were obtained through a specifically designed questionnaire composed of 20 closed-question items answered on a Likert scale response format, and 5 open-ended items which required a more detailed response to the major themes targeted within the research.
Results: Items such as involvement in student placement, teacher training, whole school support, peer support for student, teacher confidence and positive approach, previous special education experience and understandings between academic and social inclusion were all identified to varying degrees as impacting upon successful placement.
Conclusions: Following analysis of the data, results are presented both graphically and in formal discussion.