Abstract
Background and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to find out the difficulties encountered by general educators’ when communicating with students with disabilities in an inclusive elementary classroom and to explore these students’ support needs. Method: To explore the difficulties encountered by the teachers when communicating with students with disabilities, an online survey was conducted on 240 teachers in inclusive elementary school classrooms, and data were analyzed with descriptive statistics such as mean and frequency. Results: The participants showed above-average level of difficulty in communicating with students with disabilities, even though the majority of students with disabilities had verbal communication ability. The teachers showed diverse responses regarding the nonverbal communication behaviors of students with disabilities in various situations within the inclusive classrooms. The nonverbal communication behaviors included challenging behaviors. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, the necessity of introducing evidence-based practice for various learners in inclusive classrooms, integrating behavioral problem support and communication support, and empowering the capabilities of special educators as communication support experts were discussed.
Published Version
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