Nah Yong-Hwee, Tan Julianne Wen-Li
National Institute of Education, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, Singapore.
Br J Educ Psychol. 2021 Mar;91(1):315-327. doi: 10.1111/bjep.12368. Epub 2020 Jul 13.
In Singapore, despite the availability of specialized services and resources in mainstream schools for students with special educational needs, parents can still be hesitant to disclose their child's diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), for fear of stigma or negative attitudes from teachers and peers.
This study aims to understand how diagnostic labels affect teachers' perceptions of behaviours in students with ASD in mainstream primary schools, particularly behaviours which are difficult for educators to manage in the classroom setting. Based on research suggesting that a diagnostic label can provide an alternative explanation for atypical behaviours and reduce negative impressions, we hypothesize that teachers would perceive these behaviours of children with ASD less negatively as compared to children without any diagnostic labels.
The sample consisted of 120 mainstream primary school teachers who reported a mean of 9.97 years (SD = 7.96) of teaching experience. Majority of participants (65%) indicated that they had direct experience of teaching students with ASD in mainstream schools (mean years = 3.58, SD = 4.77).
Participants read a total of 20 vignettes depicting a range of behaviours typically observed in primary school-aged students with ASD. Participants were asked to rate the featured student's behaviour on a 5-point Likert scale (i.e., 1 = strongly negative, 2 = negative, 3 = neutral, 4 = positive, and 5 = strongly positive). The survey vignettes were presented in a randomized order, and participants were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (awareness of diagnostic label) or the control group (non-awareness of label).
Results indicated that the experimental group rated the behaviours less negatively than the control group. Qualitative feedback from participants also indicated that knowledge of the diagnostic label helped them to perceive the behaviours more positively.
Findings from this study have implications for parents regarding diagnosis disclosure and may serve as an encouragement to parents to consider disclosing their child's ASD diagnosis to the school.
在新加坡,尽管主流学校为有特殊教育需求的学生提供了专门的服务和资源,但家长们仍然对披露孩子的自闭症谱系障碍(ASD)诊断有所顾虑,担心会受到教师和同伴的歧视或负面态度。
本研究旨在了解诊断标签如何影响主流小学教师对患有自闭症谱系障碍学生行为的看法,特别是那些在课堂环境中教育工作者难以管理的行为。基于研究表明诊断标签可以为非典型行为提供另一种解释并减少负面印象,我们假设与没有任何诊断标签的孩子相比,教师对患有自闭症谱系障碍孩子的这些行为的负面看法会更少。
样本包括120名主流小学教师,他们报告的平均教学经验为9.97年(标准差=7.96)。大多数参与者(65%)表示他们在主流学校有直接教授患有自闭症谱系障碍学生的经验(平均年限=3.58,标准差=4.77)。
参与者总共阅读了20个描述小学年龄段患有自闭症谱系障碍学生通常表现出的一系列行为的短文。要求参与者根据5点李克特量表对所描述学生的行为进行评分(即,1=非常负面,2=负面,3=中性,4=正面,5=非常正面)。调查短文以随机顺序呈现,参与者被随机分配到实验组(知晓诊断标签)或对照组(不知晓标签)。
结果表明,实验组对这些行为的负面评价低于对照组。参与者的定性反馈也表明,对诊断标签的了解有助于他们更积极地看待这些行为。
本研究的结果对家长在诊断披露方面具有启示意义,可能会鼓励家长考虑向学校披露孩子的自闭症谱系障碍诊断。