Professional Development for Enhancing Autism Spectrum Disorder Awareness in Preschool Professionals

Linda Petersson Bloom

doi:10.1007/s10803-020-04562-9

Abstract

The current study describes the design, implementation, and analysis of a professional development programme using a Lesson Study model to enhance awareness in preschool professionals regarding inclusive education for children with autism spectrum disorder. The mixed method approach included pre- and post-intervention questionnaires, audio-recordings of group seminars, and an interview. The results indicated an increase in autism awareness among the professionals, suggesting that professionals changed their practice as a result of the programme. This was particularly clear regarding making adjustments to the learning environment and taking measures to prevent challenging situations. In addition to describing the implementation of a professional development programme in a preschool, this paper emphasises the importance of appropriate conditions for such initiatives.

Highlights

The present study described and analysed the design and implementation of a professional development programme to enhance preschool in-service professionals’ awareness regarding children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and inclusive education
Participant attitudes regarding methods for creating an inclusive preschool setting appeared to change over the course of the programme
Participants had some notion that effective education for children with ASD should be approached from the perspective of optimising the learning environment and context to make it possible for the children to learn

Summary

Introduction

The present study described and analysed the design and implementation of a professional development programme to enhance preschool in-service professionals’ awareness regarding children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and inclusive education. In the current professional development initiative, a Lesson Study (LS) model was used. The LS model is one of several collaborative professional development models with various designs (Holmqvist 2017). LS is typically used to enhance teachers’ capacity to develop students’ learning by instruction, and the focus is mainly on students’ learning during the intervention. The focus was directly on teachers’ own learning about their awareness regarding ASD and inclusive education. A problem is identified as something that needs to be improved, and changes are developed and tested in practice

Objectives

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion