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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
This paper addresses the participation of students
with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) in main-
stream schools. There are different benefits for
ASD students to be educated in an inclusive
environment (Gena, 2006; Whitaker, 2004). They
challenge the school community by presenting
difficulties in essential domains for school activi-
ties (Chamberlain, Kasari and Rotheram-Fuller,
2006; Eman and Farrell, 2009; Humphrey and
Symes, 2010). Thus, these are students with
increased difficulties participating in inclusive
environments, reinforcing the need of an ade-
quate inclusion process (Gena, 2006; Hall and
McGregor, 2000; Hestenes and Carroll, 2000).
We characterised this students
’
participation with
a questionnaire to the students from mainstream
classes in which ASD students were included, a
questionnaire applied to each class teacher/head
teacher and an interview to four of the school
educational assistants. The location of the ASD
student in mainstream classroom was also ana-
lysed, trying to understand if it influences the
quality of ASD students
’
participation, hypothesis-
ing that there is an influence. Results showed a
good perception of the students with ASD and
their behaviour, low frequency of behaviours
involving interaction with these students, good
feelings about their presence at the school/class
and an overall acceptance of them in the peer
groups of typical development students. Results
are mostly consistent across the different infor-
mation sources. We found a significant effect of
the location on the quality of participation. Results
are mainly consistent with the literature reviewed
and enlighten the need to keep making progress
on inclusion practices related to ASD students in
mainstream schools.
Description
Keywords
Autism spectrum disorders Inclusion Participation
Citation
Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16, 972-977. doi: 10.1111/1471-3802.12240
Publisher
Wiley