“They don’t have a good life if we keep thinking that they’re doing it on purpose!”: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Well-Being of Students with Autism

Danker, Joanne; Strnadová, Iva; Cumming, Therese M.

doi:10.1007/s10803-019-04025-w

Cited by 12 publications

(21 citation statements)

References 35 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…For many autistic children, the persistent negative experiences of conventional schooling can be profoundly detrimental to their sense of self and wellbeing (Danker et al, 2019). It is perhaps less surprising than it first appears, then, that many autistic children and their parents found the mandatory learning-from-home context positive, after an initial period of adaptation.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It just fits my needs better”: Autistic students and parents’ experiences of learning from home during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Heyworth

Brett

Houting

et al. 2021

Autism & Developmental Language Impairments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background and aims The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented disruption to people's lives, especially for families, whose children have been taken out of schools during lockdown restrictions and required to learn from home. Little is known, however, about the perceived impact of the lockdown restrictions on the educational experiences of autistic children and young people – a group whose conventional schooling experiences are already often challenging. In this study, we sought to (1) understand these experiences from the perspectives of autistic young people and their parents, and (2) identify the underlying sources of positive experiences at this challenging time, in order to inform the ways in which autistic children might flourish at school in more normal times. Methods Ninety-one Australian participants, including 16 autistic young people aged 12–18 years, 32 autistic parents and 43 non-autistic parents of autistic young people aged 3–18 years, took part in semi-structured interviews about their experiences of life during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. The interviews were subjected to reflexive, thematic analysis to identify themes and subthemes for each research question. Results Overall, our participants initially found the transition to learning from home extremely challenging, with parents reporting that the support received from schools was far from adequate. After that initial period of transition, however, many autistic children reported flourishing at home both educationally and personally. For these children and families, we identified three key ingredients essential to this flourishing, including: (i) the importance of connected, trusting relationships (‘people’); (ii) the sensory and social safety of home (‘place’); and (iii) the flexibility to pace and structure learning to suit the individual child (‘time’). Conclusions While the initial COVID-19 lockdown presented many challenges to children learning at home, there were aspects of this otherwise-unsettling situation that enabled children to thrive and from which we can learn for the future. Implications These findings have important implications for understanding how and when autistic children might thrive in institutional educational settings once the pandemic subsides, focusing on the relationships between teachers and students, the nature of the physical learning environment and the need for greater flexibility in planning the school day.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“It just fits my needs better”: Autistic students and parents’ experiences of learning from home during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Heyworth

Brett

Houting

et al. 2021

Autism & Developmental Language Impairments

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…For instance, Able et al ( 2015), argued that with this knowledge "teachers would be better equipped to fully include the student in the school and classroom culture" (p. 53), as this allowed teachers to learn more about the characteristics of individuals with ASD and their possible needs. Moreover, having knowledge about ASD could help teachers to better understand challenging behaviors they might come across, and make the appropriate adaptations to their classes (Danker et al, 2019). The studies did not specify what kind of knowledge would be helpful, or in what form this could be presented.…”

Section: Knowledge Of Asdmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Teachers from one study acknowledged the positive effect courses and workshops had on their understanding of ASD and their teaching skills. However, they also emphasized they did not have enough time for professional development (Danker et al, 2019).…”

Section: Time For Trainingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Parents could also be great allies for middle school teachers, especially if parents provide them with strategies that they know would work during the interaction with their children (Danker et al, 2019). A teacher from Able et al 's (2015) study sums this up with the following statement: "parents know their children more than anybody else and when parents can provide helpful tips about what makes their child tick or not, that is so helpful" (p. 52).…”

Section: Parents As a Source Of Informationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, researchers have found that the interaction between teachers and students has an impact on student's learning trajectories, which are not only defined by student and teacher characteristics, but also by the variability within those moment-to-moment interactions (Steenbeek et al, 2012;Van der Steen et al, 2019). However, teachers often struggle to divide their time to interact with their students during lessons and spend a considerable amount of time working on their own even though receiving instructions during interactions is essential for their learning (Van der Worp-van der Kamp et al, 2018) .…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Interactions Between Teachers and Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mainstream Secondary Education: Fundamental, yet Under-Researched

Villegas

Steen

Minnaert

2022

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to identify which aspects of teacher-student interactions contribute to a successful inclusion of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in mainstream secondary classrooms. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Eight studies fulfilled our criteria, and we identified teacher-related and student-related themes. Most of the included studies did not focus on interactions between teachers and students with ASD, but on requirements that could influence these interactions. Teachers often seemed to infer the needs of students with ASD during their interactions, which, as we illustrate, may not always be in line with their actual needs. We discuss the implications of this gap in the literature and how to bridge this gap.

show abstract

Neuropsychological Considerations of Adolescents and Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder for School Psychologists

Davis

Bernat

Shetter

2022

Postsecondary Transition for College- Or Career-Bound Autistic Students

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“They don’t have a good life if we keep thinking that they’re doing it on purpose!”: Teachers’ Perspectives on the Well-Being of Students with Autism

Cited by 12 publications

References 35 publications

“It just fits my needs better”: Autistic students and parents’ experiences of learning from home during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

“It just fits my needs better”: Autistic students and parents’ experiences of learning from home during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic

Interactions Between Teachers and Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in Mainstream Secondary Education: Fundamental, yet Under-Researched

Neuropsychological Considerations of Adolescents and Young Adults with High-Functioning Autism Spectrum Disorder for School Psychologists

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About