Al Jaffal Mohammed
Department of Special Education, College of Education, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Front Psychol. 2022 Aug 22;13:873248. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.873248. eCollection 2022.
As the number of students diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) present in general education (GE) classrooms has increased in the past few decades, GE teachers must adapt to meet the needs of these students. Laws and regulations require students with ASD to be educated in the least restrictive environment, as well as that they be instructed by the teachers who were qualified to teach them. Unfortunately, GE teachers face the challenges supporting students with ASD in GE settings. This qualitative research investigates the barriers that prevent teachers from successfully implementing an inclusive environment in the GE classroom. In total, four elementary school teachers at a school in the northeast of the United States were interviewed and observed. The data were analyzed to identify emerging themes. The findings showed that GE teachers lack training in how to work with students with ASD in their GE classrooms, lack collaboration opportunities with their special education colleagues to better support their students with ASD, and are not provided sufficient resources by their schools and programs to create an appropriate inclusive environment in their GE classrooms. Based on these findings, certain improvements in professional development offerings for in-service general educators on how to teach students with ASD are recommended, such as providing broader training programs that give teachers the opportunity to practice interventions and teaching plans for inclusive classrooms and receive feedback from the training instructor(s). Furthermore, certain additions to the curriculum of pre-service university education programs for GE teachers are suggested. In addition, the research found that schools must make certain resources, including technology, available to GE teachers to meet the requirements of United States law regarding educating students with disabilities, including ASD, in the least restrictive environment, which is the GE classroom.
在过去几十年里，普通教育（GE）课堂中被诊断患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）的学生数量有所增加，普通教育教师必须做出调整以满足这些学生的需求。法律法规要求患有自闭症谱系障碍的学生在限制最少的环境中接受教育，并且由具备资质的教师授课。不幸的是，普通教育教师在普通教育环境中支持患有自闭症谱系障碍的学生时面临挑战。这项定性研究调查了阻碍教师在普通教育课堂中成功营造包容性环境的障碍。研究共对美国东北部一所学校的四名小学教师进行了访谈和观察。对数据进行分析以确定新出现的主题。研究结果表明，普通教育教师缺乏在普通教育课堂中与患有自闭症谱系障碍的学生合作的培训，缺乏与特殊教育同事合作以更好地支持患有自闭症谱系障碍学生的机会，并且学校和项目没有为他们提供足够的资源在普通教育课堂中营造适宜的包容性环境。基于这些研究结果，建议对在职普通教育工作者开展关于如何教授患有自闭症谱系障碍学生的专业发展培训进行某些改进，比如提供更广泛的培训项目，让教师有机会实践包容性课堂干预措施和教学计划，并从培训教师那里获得反馈。此外，还建议在普通教育教师职前大学教育项目的课程中增加某些内容。另外，研究发现学校必须为普通教育教师提供包括技术在内的某些资源，以满足美国法律关于在限制最少的环境（即普通教育课堂）中教育包括患有自闭症谱系障碍在内的残疾学生的要求。
