Attitudes Towards Inclusion of Pupils with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) A Survey of Regular Primary School Teachers in Bangladesh

Abstract The purpose of the study is to investigate the attitudes of teachers towards inclusion of pupils with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in regular classrooms. In addition, this study is also aiming to examine the relationship between teacher-related factors and teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. This study is conducted in 30 regular primary schools in Dhaka City, Capital of Bangladesh. The participants included regular primary teachers who are currently working in regular primary schools. Out of the available teachers, ten teachers are selected from one school using random sampling. As a part of data collection, a demographic questionnaire and a modified as well as translated version of TATIS (Teacher Attitudes toward Inclusion Scale) developed by Cullen et.al.(2010) are used for measuring teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. The reliability and validity of TATIS are recalculated for applying this study in the context of Bangladesh. At first, pilot study is conducted in one regular primary school for determine the weakness of the questionnaires and also find out which data analysis techniques will be appropriate. Thereafter, main study is designed to use quantitative approach based on a survey design using questionnaire as the instrument. Ethical issues are cautiously followed throughout the process. The descriptive and inferential statistics are used to analyze the collected data. The major findings of the study indicate that teachers’ attitudes toward inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms are slightly positive. One interesting finding is that more than half of teachers are willing to make classroom modifications as well as inclusion model to meet the individual needs of students with ASD. In addition, nearly all teachers agree that the responsibility for teaching students with ASD should be shared between regular and special education teachers.On the other hand, the majority of the teachers are not supportive of meeting the needs of students with ASD in the regular classrooms; they are still in favor of the option of maintaining special classrooms for students with ASD. The results also indicate that a statistically significant correlation is highlighted between teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD 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. In addition, the summary of the regression analysis suggests 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 contribute significantly to the prediction of teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. These findings from Bangladesh are quite similaritywith the results of equivalent studies in other countries such as India, Malaysia, Kuwait, UK, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and USA in primary and secondary schools but contradictory with a study based in France. In Bangladesh, it is noted that mainly insufficient knowledge and lack of training on inclusive education and ASD are consistently related to the negative attitudes towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms. Hopefully, the findings of this study have significant implications on how to increase positive attitudes of teachers towards inclusion of pupils with ASD in regular classrooms, not only in Bangladesh, but also in other develop and developing countries. Further studies and innovation projects are suggested in order to validate these findings in details as well as to promote inclusive education for students with different disabilities including ASD in the regular and secondary primary schools in Bangladesh