Awareness and Knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorder among Mainstream and Special School Teachers in Lahore

ABSTRACT Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) affects a significant number of school going children. Awareness among teachers plays a major role in its early identification. Objective: To assess and compare the knowledge and awareness about ASD among mainstream and special school teachers of Lahore. Methods: 163 teachers (99 mainstream, 64 special school) were recruited by purposive sampling. A cross-sectional survey was conducted and descriptive analysis was run on the whole data. Results: Though knowledge about ASD was poor overall, special school teachers were better informed. Females were predominantly (n=155) represented in the sample. 64.4 % respondents were aware that early intervention was significant, only 35% believed in teaching Autistic children in mainstream schools, 90.8% agreed with the need to train teachers. Conclusion: The lack of sufficient knowledge about ASD among school teachers necessitates training them about developmental disorders to make early recognition and management of potential cases of ASD possible