A comparison of teacher and parent views of autism.

Changing conceptualizations of autism have led to an increased focus on parents and teachers as treatment agents. In order to evaluate the views of autism held by these two groups, 47 teachers of autistic students and 47 parents of autistic children completed a survey assessing beliefs regarding various aspects of the disorder. Parent and teacher responses were compared to those obtained from a group of 22 "specialists" in autism, drawn from across the country. Both parents and teachers were found to harbor misconceptions regarding cognitive, developmental, and emotional features of autism. Furthermore, parents and teachers hold discrepant views in some areas that may have implications for their collaborative efforts.