Teachers globally receive insufficient training to teach autistic students in inclusive classrooms. Teacher trainings to augment knowledge of autism and evidence-based practices for inclusion (EBIs) are essential and must be designed to align with teacher-reported needs to increase training engagement. This presentation applies user-centered design to develop an global teacher intervention. Using mixed methods, the current study gained the perspectives of teachers from the US (n=10) and Netherlands (n=17). Likert questions assessed knowledge and attitudes toward EBI training content derived from the literature from multiple orientations and on different instructional modalities (e.g., decisional flow charts, vignettes, visual aids, etc.). Non-normal data on training preferences were ordered from most to least familiar (knowledge) and acceptable (attitudes) and compared to the group median using a Wilcoxon Sign test. All teachers had negative opinions about self-regulation (M_att = 4.67; M_k = 4.00). The most preferred content included TEACCH strategies (M_att =7.67; M_k = 7.00) and behavioral rewarding (M_att =7.67; M_k = 7.50). We also compared mean attitude scores on the normally distributed variables and found that Dutch teachers had more negative attitudes than US teachers toward behaviorism t = 1.77, p < . 05 and a behavioral flow chart t = 1.72, p < .05. Qualitatively we documented themes related to teacher challenges, under preparation and negative attitudes, EBI use, and preferences for future trainings. We will present on the integration of teacher preferences into development of an EBI intervention that incorporates strategies teachers have identified as feasible and acceptable.

Authors:
Ashley Harrison, University of Georgia, United States
Karrah Bowman, University of Georgia, United States
Anne Smit, Utrecht University, Netherlands
Annelies de Bildt, University of Groningen, Netherlands

About the Presenter(s)
Ashley Harrison, Ph.D.: I obtained a bachelor’s degree at the University of Texas and a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Binghamton University. My research has specifically focused on reducing cross-cultural disparities in autism and early childhood services in the United States and internationally. In alignment with a disparities-reduction framework, my research focuses on reducing sociodemographic inequities in accessing autism and early childhood services through i) identifying disparate patterns of service use, ii) examining barriers to service use, and iii) developing and disseminating approaches to serve all families equitably using an implementation science framework. I am particularly focused on how autism knowledge and stigmas contribute to inequities. More recently, my work has focused on supporting teachers.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Monday Schedule

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