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Practitioners should consider the pre-requisite skills of the participants and the nature of the target behaviour when selecting an intervention to teach daily living skills to individuals with autism.

Diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have risen dramatically in the last 10 years, with recent estimates at one in every 100 children within Australia. This has resulted in considerable increases in the number of students with ASD entering mainstream education. Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion have been recognised as a key indicator for students’ successful inclusion. The main factors posited for determining teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of students with disabilities, consists of the amount of specialist training received and the length of specific ASD teaching experience. Utilising the Autism Attitude Scale for Teachers for the first time in Australia, we examined 107 primary school teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusion of students with ASD within their classrooms. The resulting scores were then analysed to examine the correlations, if any existed, between the amount of specialised training and years of ASD‐specific teaching on teachers’ attitude scores. While teachers’ attitudes were found to be highly positive, contrary to previous studies, low correlation coefficients were reported between their attitudes and ASD‐specific teaching experience, and their attitudes and the number of ASD‐specific professional development courses they attended. Findings of this study are discussed in the context of the sample population and explore the notion of a sociological and philosophical shift, attributed to the positive promotion efforts of the inclusive education movement, as one possible reason for the divergence in the findings from past research in the field.

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Many pre-service teachers feel under-prepared to teach students with a diverse range of needs and abilities and continue to be concerned about classroom behaviour management when undertaking practicum experiences. In order to address these concerns, teacher educators have explored alternative pedagogical approaches, including computer based simulations and immersion in virtual worlds. This paper reports on the results of a pilot study conducted with eight pre-service teachers who operated avatars in a virtual classroom created within Second Life (SL)™. The pre-service teachers were able to role-play students with a diverse range of behaviours and engage in reflective discussion about their experiences. The results showed that the pre-service teachers appreciated the opportunity to engage in an authentic classroom experience without impacting on "real" students, but that the platform of SL proved limiting in enacting certain aspects of desired teaching pedagogy. The findings of this pilot study are discussed in relation to improving the preparation of pre-service teachers for practicum.

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Individuals with the pervasive developmental disorder Asperger's syndrome (AS) are generally of average or above average intelligence and attend mainstream schools. Despite their intelligence, some of the characteristics and challenges associated with AS can impact upon the quality of life they experience at school. Although both males and females are diagnosed with AS, females have been underrepresented and unrepresented in much of the AS research. Consequently, much of what is known about the school experiences of students with AS is based on studies consisting predominately of male perspectives. This article discusses what adult females with AS and parents of females with AS currently attending school wish teachers understood about AS in females. Many of the experiences described by participants indicate there is a lack of understanding about AS, both generally and specifically, in relation to females. Implications of these findings and recommendations for educators and schools are provided, and directions for future research are outlined.