Regular Primary School Teachers’ Attitudes towards Inclusion of Pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Bangladesh

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards inclusion of pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in regular classrooms and also aiming to examine the relationship between teacher-related factors and teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. Three hundred regular primary teachers were selected as participants by using random sampling. A demographic questionnaire and TATIS (Teacher Attitudes toward Inclusion Scale) developed by Cullen et.al.(2010) were used for measuring teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. The descriptive and inferential statistics were used for analyzing data. The findings indicated that teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms were slightly positive. One interesting finding was that half of teachers are willing to make classroom modifications and to follow inclusion model to meet the individual needs of students with ASD. However, the majority of the teachers are still in favor of the option of maintaining special classrooms for students with ASD. The result also indicated that the statistically significant correlation was highlighted between teachers’ attitudes and the following teacher-related factors: gender, age, educational qualification, teaching experience, being personally acquainted with a person with ASD, adequate training and formal training on ASD. The regression analysis suggested that about 21% of the variance on attitudes due to the variables like gender, age, educational qualification, adequate training and formal training on ASD. These variables contributed significantly to the prediction of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD.