Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with Autism SpectrumDisorder in Mainstream Classrooms

Sally Lindsay*, Meghann Proulx, Nicole Thomson and Helen Scott

Bloorview Research Institute, Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital,The University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada

Although children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly beingplaced within mainstream classes, little is known about the challenges that teachersencounter with including them as full participants in the class. This qualitative studydraws on a purposive sample of 13 educators who have experience teaching childrenwith ASD within two cities in Ontario, Canada. Through in-depth interviews weasked about teachers’ challenges regarding creating an inclusive environment withintheir classroom. Teachers reported several challenges, including: understanding andmanaging behaviour; socio-structural barriers (i.e., school policy, lack of training andresources); and creating an inclusive environment (i.e., lack of understanding fromother teachers, students and parents). Teachers recommend that more resources,training and support are needed to enhance the education and inclusion of childrenwith ASD.

Keywords: Asperger’s; autism spectrum disorder; children; inclusive education;mainstream classroom; qualitative research; social inclusion; teachers

Introduction

Educators have reported a notable increase in students with autism over the past few years(Geneva Centre for Autism, 2010; Lindsay et al., 2013). Autism spectrum disorder (ASD)is one of the most common childhood neurological disorders (Autism Society Canada,2010), which is characterised by problems in communication (i.e., delay or lack of lan-guage development), social development (i.e., lack of development of peer relationships,impaired non-verbal behaviour), ritualistic behaviour and resistance to change (AmericanPsychiatric Association, 2012). With more students with ASD in mainstream classrooms,educators are expected to create an inclusive educational environment, often with few orno guidelines on how to do so (Horrocks, White, & Roberts, 2008; Lindsay et al., 2013).Researchers have also highlighted that many schools are struggling to keep pace in meet-ing the needs of students with ASD (Humphrey & Lewis, 2008; Symes & Humphrey,2010). Many teachers and parents agree that more needs to be done to create inclusivesocial environments within classrooms (Hinton, Sofronoff, & Sheffield, 2008; McGregor& Campbell, 2001; Smith & Brown, 2000). Despite these obstacles, very little is knownabout educators’ challenges with teaching children with ASD.

Evidence on inclusive education shows that successful implementation of inclusiveprinciples can lead to increased student engagement in social interaction, higher levels

*Corresponding author. Email: slindsay@hollandbloorview.ca

International Journal of Disability, Development and Education, 2013Vol. 60, No. 4, 347–362, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2013.846470

� 2013 Taylor & Francis

of social support, social networks and advanced education goals compared with theircounterparts in segregated settings (Bredekamp & Copple, 1997; Chandler-Olcott &Kluth, 2009; Eldar, Talmor, & Wolf-Zukerman, 2010; Vakil, O’Connor, & Kline, 2009).Despite these potential benefits, the inclusion of children with ASD in the mainstreamclassroom can be challenging for teachers.

Given the social and behavioural impairments of children with ASD, teachers oftenface considerable obstacles in appropriately managing their needs (Bowe, 2004;Wilmhurst & Brue, 2010; Lindsay et al., 2013). Evidence consistently shows that manyteachers feel unprepared to support students with ASD socially, academically, andbehaviourally (Hinton et al., 2008; Horrocks et al., 2008; Symes & Humphrey, 2010).Indeed, one of the most important challenges in working with students with autism inintegrated classrooms is inadequate knowledge about ASD and lacking access to con-sultation support and advice (De Boer & Simpson, 2009). For example, one UK-basedstudy found that only 5% of teachers received training about autism even though themajority of teachers had a child with autism in their class (McGregor & Campbell,2001). Such gaps in training can leave teachers feeling discouraged while students withASD may miss opportunities to reach their full potential (Allen & Cowdery, 2005; War-nock, 2005). Past research has typically focused on the challenges of managing individ-ual behaviours in attempting to include children with ASD in the classroom. This studyaddresses an important gap in the literature by also exploring the socio-structural factorsinfluencing the inclusion of these children. As a first step in building a more inclusiveenvironment where children are all considered an equally valued member of the class(Eldar et al., 2010), it is critical to understand the challenges educators may encounterwhen creating inclusive classroom environments, particularly for children with ASD.

In Ontario, Canada, where this study was conducted, school boards are required toprovide students with exceptionalities (i.e., behavioural, communication, intellectual,physical or multiple) with appropriate special education programmes and services tobest meet their educational needs (Lindsay, Proulx, Scott, & Thomson, 2013; OntarioMinistry of Education, 2012). Such students may receive these services once anIdentification, Placement and Review Committee have formally identified them (OntarioMinistry of Education, 2012; Lindsay et al., 2013).

Within Ontario, Canada, the Ministry of Education has identified the inclusion ofstudents with ASD in school environments as an area of priority for action (Lindsayet al., 2013; Minister’s ASD Reference Group, 2007). Other researchers also highlightthe need to develop a better understanding of educators’ challenges in working withchildren who have ASD (Davis & Florian, 2004; Humphrey & Parkinson, 2006;National Autism Society, 2003). The Ontario Ministry of Education (2012) has sup-ported this inclusive approach with the Education Act and a commitment to supportchildren with disabilities in the Ontario school curriculum (Lindsay et al., 2013).

Theoretical Perspective: Inclusive education

The provision of inclusive and accepting social climates within schools is necessary tohelp children reach their full potential and for them to feel important, welcome, andappreciated (De Winter, Baeveldlt, & Kooistra, 1999). The United Nations Conventionon the Rights of the Child (1989) stipulates that all children, “should enjoy a full anddecent life, in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate thechild’s active participation in the community” (Article 23). We draw on Lipsky andGartner’s (1997) model on the essential elements of inclusion to inform our analysis.

348 S. Lindsay et al.

Their model outlines seven essential elements that can be used to guide an inclusiveeducation programme. These elements include: visionary leadership, collaboration, refo-cused use of assessment, support for staff and students, funding, effective parentalinvolvement as well as curricular adaptation and effective instructional practices. Thismodel offers a framework by which inclusion can be achieved (Lynch & Irvine, 2009),and is consistent with Ferguson’s (1995) concept of authentic inclusion where organ-ising an education programme based on these elements can meet the needs of all stu-dents. We argue that applying best-practice elements of inclusion may be difficult forteachers who are including students with high-functioning autism within their class.

Methods

This qualitative design explored educators’ challenges in and strategies for includingchildren with ASD in mainstream classrooms (see Lindsay et al. [2013] for methodsand findings on strategies) while applying Lipsky and Gartner’s (1997) model of essen-tial elements of inclusion. Ethical approval was obtained from the ethics review boardsat a children’s hospital and two local district school boards.

Sample

This study drew on a purposive sample of educators to gain a better understanding ofthe challenges they experience when including children with ASD in their classrooms.Teachers were recruited through contacts with a local district school board. Informationletters were given to contacts of designated schools. Once the school board approvedthe project, information letters were sent to teachers who were thought to meet theinclusion criteria (see below). Participants who were interested in taking part contactedthe research team to set up a convenient time to be interviewed. Each participant wasscreened by telephone to determine eligibility prior to the interview. Participants wereincluded if they met the following criteria: they had at least two years of teaching expe-rience in an integrated class; they are currently an educator within an elementary schoolwithin a local district school board; and/or they have experience teaching a student withASD within a mainstream class (Lindsay et al., 2013).

Our sample consisted of 13 educators (10 females, three males) who taught a widerange of classes (see Table 1) (Lindsay et al., 2013). While current teaching roles maynot necessarily have been within a “regular” classroom (i.e., one teacher was currentlyemployed in a developmental disability programme, and six teachers were working in aspecial education room), each educator interviewed was asked to draw on their previousexperiences, ranging from three to 22 years, teaching in a mainstream classroom. Satu-ration was reached when no new or relevant data emerged (Strauss & Corbin, 1998).Five of the teachers were based at a school in a rural area while eight were at an urbanschool setting. Twelve of the teachers had earned additional qualifications in specialeducation (Lindsay et al., 2013).

Data Gathering

The interviews followed an in-depth, semi-structured format exploring teachers’challenges on including children with ASD in mainstream classrooms. The first twoauthors conducted the interviews between June 2011 and February 2012—these lastedan average of 38 minutes (Lindsay et al., 2013). Informed consent was obtained from

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 349

Table

1.

Participantsummaries.

Teacher

Gender

Currentexperience

Previousexperience

Relevanteducationandtraining

Challenges

Currentrolea

Typeof

school(rural,

urban)

Teaching

experience

(years)

Teaching

experience

(Grades)

BEdb

MEdc

SEAQd

School-based

autism

traininge

1Male

Specialeducation

teacher

Urban

10

4–6

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

2Male

DDfclassroom

teacher

Urban

44–8

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

3Fem

ale

Grade2/3

teacher

gRural

14

2U

–U

–Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingand

managingbehaviour

4Fem

ale

Grade3teacher

Rural

111–8

U–

UU

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

5Fem

ale

Grade1teacher

Rural

12

JK–6

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

(Continued)

350 S. Lindsay et al.

Table

1.(Continued.)

Teacher

Gender

Currentexperience

Previousexperience

Relevanteducationandtraining

Challenges

Currentrolea

Typeof

school(rural,

urban)

Teaching

experience

(years)

Teaching

experience

(Grades)

BEdb

MEdc

SEAQd

School-based

autism

traininge

6Fem

ale

Grade7teacher

Rural

15

1/2

g,6

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Managingandunderstand-

ingbehaviour

7Fem

ale

Specialeducation

teacher

Rural

21

1–6

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

8Fem

ale

Teacher

(onleave)

N/A

22

J/Kh–8

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

9Fem

ale

Grade7/8

teacher

gUrban

13

6–8

U–

––

Socio-structuralbarriers

(Continued)

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 351

Table

1.(Continued.)

Teacher

Gender

Currentexperience

Previousexperience

Relevanteducationandtraining

Challenges

Currentrolea

Typeof

school(rural,

urban)

Teaching

experience

(years)

Teaching

experience

(Grades)

BEdb

MEdc

SEAQd

School-based

autism

traininge

10

Fem

ale

Specialeducation

teacher

Urban

20+

J/K,S/K

i ,1

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

11Male

Specialeducation

teacher

Urban

81,2,4,5,

physical

education

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

12

Fem

ale

Specialeducationand

physicaleducation

teacher

Urban

51–6

UU

UU

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

(Continued)

352 S. Lindsay et al.

Table

1.(Continued.)

Teacher

Gender

Currentexperience

Previousexperience

Relevanteducationandtraining

Challenges

Currentrolea

Typeof

school(rural,

urban)

Teaching

experience

(years)

Teaching

experience

(Grades)

BEdb

MEdc

SEAQd

School-based

autism

traininge

13

Fem

ale

JK/SK

teacher

gUrban

3JK

/SKg

U–

U–

Socio-structuralbarriers

Inclusiveenvironment–

parentalengagem

ent

Inclusiveenvironment–

peerunderstandingand

acceptance

Understandingandmanag-

ingbehaviour

Notes:

aIndicates

currentteachingposition.Educators

wereasked

todraw

ontheircurrentandpreviousexperiences.

Allteachershad

previousexperience

workingin

mainstream

classrooms.

bBachelorofEducation.Alleducators

requirethisdegreeto

teachin

Ontario.

cMaster’sin

Education.Notarequirem

ent.

dSpecialEducationAdditional

Qualification.

eReflectsthose

educators

whocitedaschool-based

autism

trainingprogramme(typically

workshops).

f DevelopmentalDisabilityprogramme.

gIndicates

asplit-gradeclassroom.

hJuniorKindergarten.

i SeniorKindergarten.

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 353

each participant prior to the interview. Demographic information was also collected,including number of years taught, grades taught, type of school (rural/urban) and addi-tional qualifications (refer to Table 1).

Interview questions asked the following: Can you please describe how long youhave been teaching for and your training background?; Can you describe the types ofchildren that you have experience teaching (probe for autism)?; What is your approachto teaching children with autism spectrum disorder?; Have you encountered anychallenges in educating children with autism within mainstream classes? If so, can yougive an example? (probe for essential elements of inclusion according to Lipsky andGartner’s model); and, Is there anything else that you would like to add that we did notget a chance to talk about? These questions are consistent with Lindsay et al.’s (2013)study.

Data Analysis

The interviews were recorded and professionally transcribed verbatim. The analysisbegan with the first two authors independently reading through each interview severaltimes and noting key emerging themes. We drew on Lipsky and Gartner’s (1997) modelon the essential elements of inclusion (i.e., visionary leadership, collaboration, refocuseduse of assessment, support for staff and students, funding, effective parental involve-ment, curricular adaptation and effective instructional practices) to inform our analysis.Codes with similar meanings were developed, examined and re-defined as necessary. Aconstant comparative approach of organising the data with continual adjustment anddiscussion amongst the research team was used throughout the analysis (Grbich, 2007;Lindsay et al., 2013). Quotes that were reflective of each theme were extracted. Code–recode and peer examination helped to establish the trustworthiness of the findings(Grbich, 2007). An audit trail of analytical decisions regarding the themes was kept.

Results

Challenges in including children with ASD, as reported by the teachers interviewed, areas follows: understanding and managing behaviour; socio-structural barriers (i.e., schoolpolicy, lack of training and resources); and creating an inclusive environment (i.e., lackof understanding from other teachers, students and parents). Table 1 provides an over-view of the challenges reported by each educator. We did not notice any patternsregarding the type of school (rural versus urban), the number of years taught, or thegrade levels taught and the number or types of challenges that were reported.

Understanding and Managing Behaviour

Understanding and managing student behaviour was a challenge to fully includingchildren with ASD. Teachers felt they lacked adequate information about ASD, particu-larly with respect to specific ways to work with a child in the classroom and how toappropriately manage a child when a behavioural outburst occurs. One teacher gives anexample:

There are days where you may have a student with autism who has a meltdown and youcan’t deal with it right then and there … You just can’t always work with just one child.(Teacher 12)

354 S. Lindsay et al.

Another behavioural management concern was around how to handle unstructuredtime such as recesses or field trips, occasions where routines might be broken causingdistress in a child with ASD. As one teacher shared:

When we have something like the play day or something that’s not structured, let’s saythey’re shooting hoops and [the student] misses three, he gets mad and screams and goesand sits in the corner … He doesn’t know how to have fun if he’s not winning … The chal-lenges are when there’s an outbreak what do you do with the rest of the kids? (Teacher 3)

With multiple children to supervise, this type of situation makes it difficult for teachers,as one teacher said it best: “The biggest challenge is explaining to the other childrenthat [the student with ASD] needs more time or care” (Teacher 10).

Some teachers found it difficult to engage students with ASD in lessons, noting thatthey often have specific interests and become frustrated when asked to do somethingelse. For example, a teacher said, “It’s difficult to involve my kids with autism into mylessons where they’re engaged and participating in a way that isn’t distracting, yet pro-ductive for them” (Teacher 13). Another teacher also spoke about the challenge ofexpanding their specific interests:

One student was quite defiant and quite loud and oppositional towards the general class-room structure. He did get along well with at least one other student but it was a constantchallenge with his behaviour and trying to include him within the lessons and the class-room because he had his mind set on working on the computer and doing his own thingversus a specific lesson. So inclusion was much more difficult. (Teacher 11)

Establishing a rapport with a student was noted by teachers as being an importantelement for helping a child in distress to calm down. This was often a difficult task forsome teachers, making it challenging to include students with their peers. For example,one teacher describes:

I think the biggest challenge is when they shut down and you don’t know how to getthrough to them. Like in the primary grade they might get underneath a table, not talk toyou and refuse to do what you want. (Teacher 5)

In sum, teachers often felt unprepared to manage the behaviour of a child with ASD.

Socio-structural Barriers

A second challenge with including a child who has ASD involved socio-structuralbarriers such as lack of training, availability of resources and school policies. Ten teach-ers felt they lacked training and continuing education opportunities on how to workwith children with ASD. For example: “There’s a lot of kids who enter the classroomand the teachers don’t know what to do. So these kids are underserviced. If we don’treally understand the core problems with the kids, you can’t really teach them” (Teacher1). Other teachers described how more support is needed to be able to fully includechildren with ASD. For instance:

There is very little support for teachers in doing the planning [for students with ASD].Unless you have Special Education qualifications there really isn’t time or attention givento working on those practices of planning for inclusivity. (Teacher 9)

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 355

Some teachers advocated for a more consistent process in training and supportingteachers. For example, in regards to the special education additional qualificationcourses: “I think the additional qualifications courses in Special Education have to havean autism component. I think boards have a responsibility to in-service their teacherson meaningful professional development for autism” (Teacher 9). Others commented:“We need more teachers especially trained in autism” (Teacher 10). Some teachers saidthat although training is available on understanding the basics of ASD behaviour, it isnot helpful for learning specific teaching methods to work with students. One teachercommented, “There’s a lot about working with students with autism and tracking theirbehaviors but there’s not a lot of workshops on how to teach them, different strategies”(Teacher 12).

Another teacher noted that approaches to working with children with ASD could bemore proactive rather than reactive. For example: “most of the energy is spent on cor-recting difficulties as opposed to making things that are going ok better” (Teacher 4).

Another structural barrier mentioned by eight teachers involved lacking appropriateresources (i.e., financial resources, access to training opportunities, funding for an edu-cation assistant) and equipment (i.e., computer software, assistive technology, “fidgettoys”) for students with ASD. One teacher explains:

Access to resources is a problem. For example, you know, I had a boy with autism and itwas quite a challenge to get that resource because he was in a regular program. Therewasn’t any money assigned to buying the equipment that he would need … assistive equip-ment for example a whoopee cushion … or a weighted vest. Or even, you know took me along time, even you know the [software]. I had to go to other schools with special needsprograms to use their [software]. How is it you are able to program for the student if youdon’t have the necessary things to help the student? (Teacher 1)

Teachers found this frustrating and often had to advocate on the child’s behalf on theirown time to access these helpful resources. They noted that it was a particular challengefor children with Asperger’s syndrome or high-functioning autism because most of theresources tend to go towards children with lower-functioning autism. For example, oneteacher explains:

Even if he just has Asperger’s he’s still on the spectrum but there’s really not a lot ofhuman resource time or financial resource time given to him because, well, it’s justAsperger’s. You know, it’s not like he’s a runner or a hitter or non-verbal or anything likethat so kind of “just deal with it” sort of thing. I think it’s really more of the Asperger’send that I would say is under-funded or under-supported. (Teacher 4)

In addition to lacking resources for equipment and teaching materials, teachers alsomentioned there was a lack of funding for education assistants. For example: “There’svery little support in terms of EA [education assistant] time unless the child is a threatto themselves or others in a physical way” (Teacher 7). Another teacher agreed: “Itwould be nice if they [school board] stopped cutting EAs” (Teacher 2). Seven teachersfelt quite strongly about having an education assistant in the classroom to integrate thestudents with ASD.

Barriers were also found at the school policy level, where teachers described thedifficulties in meeting the Ministry of Education standards on test scores despitehaving children with diverse needs in their classroom. One teacher shared herexample:

356 S. Lindsay et al.

With special needs students it makes it really hard because there’s an expectation from theMinistry [of Education] that a certain percentage of kids will get to a certain level and it’shard when you have those needs in the class and that’s not something they’re going to beable to achieve. (Teacher 4)

Teachers especially felt this pressure when there were students with ASD in their class-room.

Teachers lacked time to provide additional help to children with ASD, especially inolder grades where there are larger class sizes. Five of the teachers mentioned that classsizes were a challenge for being able to successfully include a child with ASD. Forexample, one teacher commented:

For some of these ASD kids when they get into Grade 4 where all of a sudden there are30 kids in their class, double to what they’re used to having, then the attention from theirteacher probably gets cut in half. (Teacher 6)

The increased class sizes contribute to the teachers’ workload, which “can make it diffi-cult to give proper consideration to the way we can support students with specialneeds” (Teacher 9). Teachers explained that integrated classrooms can be very over-whelming for children with ASD, especially with the class sizes and the noise they canproduce. For example: “In an integrated environment they’re lost. There’s too muchstimulus, too much everything. The noise, the kids, the class, the desk, the chairs” (Tea-cher 8). In summary, teachers encountered many socio-structural challenges affectingtheir ability to successfully include children with ASD in their mainstream class.

Challenges in Creating an Inclusive Environment

A third challenge teachers encountered was with creating an inclusive environment forchildren with ASD within their class as well as the school. A common theme that sixteachers mentioned included a lack of awareness and understanding of the disorderamongst other staff, students and parents. Teachers told us it is sometimes difficult forother school staff to understand the behaviour of a child with ASD. Teachers alsosuggested some staff may be nervous and have misperceptions about children withASD. Teachers described having to educate and bring awareness of ASD to their peers,a role they felt to be challenging.

Parental Engagement

Another barrier that 11 teachers encountered was with engaging parents and maintainingan open communication system. This was difficult, teachers reported, when parentschose not to identify their child’s condition. For instance: “Kids that aren’t identifiedbut they have ASD, and the parents kind of don’t want to hear it” (Teacher 6). Teachersshared with us how a lack of a formal identification of ASD led to children not beingeligible to receive resources and supports that could help to enhance their educationexperience. One teacher describes her experience: “The parents are at different levels ofacceptance … We’ve got to get them to the point where they contact agencies that canhelp them … Certainly rapport with the parents is sometimes a challenge” (Teacher 3).Another teacher explained: “The most frustrating part is the parents … if they’re not onboard the success is limited” (Teacher 8).

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 357

In addition to communicating with the parents of the child with ASD, teachers alsohighlighted they had to manage concerns from other parents. For instance, they had to,“Help other parents understand that this child is not bad but is just as important as yourchild but has other needs … but I can’t break privacy and say, he’s got autism so givehim a break” (Teacher 6). In sum, interactions with parents of children with ASD andparents of students’ peers presented to be challenging amongst teachers.

Peer Understanding and Acceptance

Ten teachers mentioned the challenges in creating an atmosphere of understanding andpeer acceptance to include the child with ASD. Children often realise there may besomething different about a child with ASD, but are unaware of the official diagnosis(due to privacy laws) or are unaware of how these differences manifest as behaviours.This makes it difficult for teachers to create an understanding and empathetic climatewithin their class. The consequence, as teachers report, is that children with ASD areoften excluded from peer activities. One teacher recalls:

Another huge challenge is getting people to understand that the behavior of [a person withASD] is communication. When they are behaving poorly they are trying to tell us some-thing … it’s hard to get people to understand they’re not acting out just to be a pain.They’re acting out because they don’t have a way of telling you what’s bugging them.(Teacher 8)

Most of the teachers, even those with extensive teaching experience, reported strug-gling with how to promote peer interaction for children with social, communication andbehavioural impairments. Eight teachers described challenges in creating social and peergroups for the child with ASD. For example, one teacher described, “In integrated clas-ses if they’re anxious they can’t function which causes maladaptive social behaviors,which makes them not have friends, essentially” (Teacher 13). Another teacher had asimilar example: “One of the big challenges is the fact that they’re ostracized or theydon’t have that circle of friends because they have a hard time keeping friends”(Teacher 4).

Teachers mentioned difficulty with getting other children in the class to understandwhy a peer behaves differently and to accept them for who they are. For instance: “Ifind in Grade 5/6 they have a hard time understanding why somebody may not be thesame as them and unfortunately, I think that’s the time those children might get a littletargeted” (Teacher 5). In sum, a lack of peer understanding and acceptance made itdifficult for teachers to successfully include the child with ASD in the class.

Discussion

This study explored educators’ challenges with including children with ASD in main-stream classes. Improving social inclusion of children with ASD is important not onlyfor their social and academic development but also to provide typically developing chil-dren with an opportunity to develop a tolerance and appreciation for others who are“different” (Lindsay & McPherson, 2012a).

Our findings suggest that teachers found it difficult to apply best practices of inclu-sion (as defined by Lipsky & Gartner, 1997) when there was a child with ASD withintheir mainstream classroom. Teachers reported difficulty in understanding and managing

358 S. Lindsay et al.

the behaviour of children with ASD and enhancing social and communication skills tohelp them to develop peer relationships. This is consistent with past research showingthat teachers often face considerable difficulty addressing the needs of children withASD (Wilmhurst & Brue, 2010), probably due to a lack of training. Teachers alsodiscussed how it was often difficult to tailor lessons while still engaging all of thechildren. Indeed, curricular adaptation and effective instructional practices are deemedas best practice for inclusive classrooms (Lipsky & Gartner, 1997); however, our find-ings suggest that this was difficult for teachers to achieve.

Second, teachers encountered several socio-structural barriers in the school environ-ment, such as a lack of training and resources in addition to restrictive school policies.These are viewed as key elements for achieving inclusion in mainstream classes (Lipsky& Gartner, 1997). Our findings are similar to previous research showing that teachersneed specific training and support, understanding and collaboration from their col-leagues and the school board to facilitate the full inclusion of children with ASD (Eldaret al., 2010). Indeed, continuing efforts for staff development are needed (such as work-shops or professional development) for the successful inclusion of students (Lipsky &Gartner, 1997). Evidence shows that students must receive the necessary funding toensure they are properly supported (Lindsay et al., 2013; Lipsky & Gartner, 1997).

A third challenge that teachers encountered was creating an inclusive environmentwithin the class and school. Our findings showed that there was a lack of understandingof or familiarity with the disorder among other teachers, students and parents, whichinhibited the full inclusion of children with ASD. Collaborating in a multi-disciplinaryteam to ensure children receive services tailored to their needs is an essential elementof a successful inclusive classroom according to Lipsky and Gartner’s (1997) model ofinclusive education. Yet educators in our sample found it difficult to work with otherswithin the school to enhance the dignity and respect of all students, a key aspect ofinclusive pedagogy. Consistent evidence shows that such support from others (i.e., edu-cators, students and parents) is critical because it can benefit students with ASD andcan enhance the processes associated with inclusive education (Lindsay et al., 2013;Lipsky & Gartner, 1997; Timmons & Breitenbach, 2004).

Teachers also reported challenges with parental involvement in the child’s schooling,which inhibited their access to the supports that could have helped their progress. Paststudies show that parental involvement is a key element of successful inclusion of achild with a disability in a mainstream classroom (Lindsay et al., 2013; Lipsky &Gartner, 1997).

One best practice of inclusion according to Lipsky and Gartner’s (1997) model thatwe did not encounter in our findings was visionary leadership, which involves guidingthe inclusion movement towards its goal. It could be because teachers were strugglingto gain the basic training and necessary resources for the child that the overarching goalof inclusion within the school was not a priority. Other recent studies highlight theimportance of disability awareness programmes to improve inclusion and attitudestowards children with disabilities (Lindsay & Edwards, 2013). Perhaps more of awhole-school approach is needed to help support and guide teachers on how to bestinclude children with ASD within their classes.

Having the proper mechanisms in place in a child’s social environment is essentialfor them to thrive and to be treated as a valued member of the class (Humphrey, 2008).For example, past research shows that a lack of social inclusion among children is oftenthe result of typically developing children not being taught to value diversity,

Educators’ Challenges of Including Children with ASD 359

acceptance and peer belonging within inclusive classrooms (Lindsay & McPherson,2012a, 2012b; Maich & Belcher, 2012).

In aligning our findings with Lipsky and Gartner’s (1997) model of essential ele-ments of inclusion, we argue that applying best practices to enhance inclusion maybe difficult for teachers who are educating children with ASD. There appear to beseveral larger, systemic issues that may be challenging for teachers to address ontheir own. For instance, the additional qualification courses are generally quite shortand tend to address generic issues of disability. Thus, there is perhaps a need forlonger or more focused training on specific conditions. Teachers in this study alsonoted that when workshops or training are provided around children with ASD it isoften focused on tracking their behaviour, while more time should be focused onhow to teach children with ASD and offering solutions on how to successfullyinclude them with their peers within the class. Further, some teachers suggested thatmore resources should be directed to hiring education assistants to help studentswith ASD within the class. However, this is somewhat of a contentious issuebecause some evidence shows that having an education assistant in the class canisolate students from their peers and increase their risk of bullying (Lindsay &McPherson, 2012a). A final recommendation in relation to our findings is thatschool boards should consider the diversity of students when setting standards fortesting and also class sizes.

A limitation in this study is its small sample size, and the findings are notgeneralisable to all teachers (Lindsay et al., 2013). Our aim, however, was to providean in-depth understanding of teachers’ challenges of including children with ASD inmainstream classes. Further, our study drew on educators’ experiences of includingchildren with ASD and some of the teachers were now in different roles within theschool. This may have influenced their perception of the inclusion of children withASD. Nevertheless, our findings are consistent across current roles and are also similarwith past research on challenges in educating children with ASD (Lindsay et al., 2013).Another limitation is that many of the teachers in our sample had special educationqualifications. Although this is common for the location where our sample was drawn,it may not be typical of all countries. Thus, further research is needed to explore thestrategies that teachers use in different locations. Future research should explore howinclusion is enhanced or inhibited by the design of the classroom and school.

Conclusion

Teachers who work with children with ASD in mainstream classes encounter severalchallenges in including them as full members of the class. These challenges includeunderstanding and managing behaviour; socio-structural barriers (training, resources,policies); and creating an inclusive environment within the classroom. More resources,supports and training are needed for teachers so they can provide an inclusive environ-ment for students with ASD. Based on the findings in this study we recommend thatmore information and support are provided to teachers so students with ASD can beincluded as full members of the class. This can be done through both formal and infor-mal training such as workshops and disability awareness resources. Schools should alsoemphasise teamwork to address the needs of children with ASD to develop effectivesolutions of enhancing their inclusion.

360 S. Lindsay et al.

Key Messages

• Many teachers lack training and resources to successfully include children withASD in mainstream classrooms.

• Teachers encounter challenges in creating an inclusive classroom environment forchildren with ASD.

• A lack of understanding of the nature of ASD from school staff, students andparents can inhibit the successful inclusion of children with ASD.

• Teachers need more support in understanding and managing the behaviour ofstudents with ASD.

AcknowledgementsThe findings reported here are based on research conducted as part of the “Exploring Educators’Successes and Challenges of Including Children with ASD in Mainstream Classes” project. Thecontent of this publication does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of Holland BloorviewKids Rehabilitation Hospital nor this journal. Opinions reflect those of the authors and do notnecessarily reflect those of the funding agency. The authors had no financial or other conflicts ofinterest.

FundingThe research project was funded by a Bloorview Research Institute start-up grant, from theHolland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital Foundation.

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