The Perceptions of School Involvement of Parents of Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders: a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Several different types of parent involvement with schools have been identified in the special education and general education literature, including (a) advocacy, (b) collaborative partnership, (c) home-school communication, and (d) school-based participation. However, it is unclear which types of involvement are addressed in the literature and how parents of children with autism spectrum disorders perceive these types of school involvement. In this systematic literature review, we synthesized this body of literature, which consisted of 37 studies published from 2001 to 2017. Authors addressed all four types of parent involvement using a range of measures, most frequently addressing home-school communication. Limitations and implications for research and practice are discussed, including the importance of collecting and reporting on the characteristics of survey respondents and identifying and validating common measures across studies.