Helps, S., Newsom-Davis, I.C., & Callias, M. (1999).  Autism: The teacher's view.  Autism, 3(3), 287-297. DOI on paper.

• many different ways autism has been conceptualized
  • mental disorder
  • neuropsychological models including the frontal lobe
• different beliefs among individuals lay and professional
• Stone -questionnaire regarding autism beliefs
  • do teachers have a variance of beliefs and why?
• Importance of teacher beliefs
  • work closely at a time when features of autism are most obvious
  • prominent role in the education and care of children with autism
  • early intervention is crucial
    • must have an accurate view of autism across disciplines in order to be effective practitioners
  • integration more common
    • could apply misleading interventions
    • must have specific knowledge and flexibility when working with children with autism
• teacher training
  • often occurs during inservice trainings
  • most teachers don't get the training
• research questions
  • how much training do teachers get in autism, and how much do they think they need?
  • empirical evidence regarding knowledge and beliefs
• Measures
  • Stone belief questionnaire
  • added 9 items regarding education, experience and training needs
• Participants - 8 schools in London - all had kids with autism in the school
  • 22 mainstream teachers
  • 63 special educators
  • 10 support staff
    • special educators tended to be older and teaching longer
    • control group - 10 mental health professionals considered to be autism experts
• Procedures
  • each participant filled out an anonymous questionnaire
  • non-parametric tests (Kruskal-Wallis) done - small N and non normal distribution
  • Qualitiative analysis of questions - NOT A LOT OF QUOTES
• Results
  • 70% mainstream teachers - worked with kids with ASD
    • 5% training in school
    • 5% training in inservice
  • 50% special educators received training
  • 40% support staff received training
  • comparison of beliefs and knowledge
    • teachers - less empathetic than mental health professionals
    • teachers - agreed that
      • can't outgrow
      • need structure and predictability
      • classroom organization can impact a child's behavior - THAN PSYCHOLOGISTS?
    • differences
      • autism - no learning difficulties
      • special abilities/talents
      • emotional disorder
  • training needs of staff
    • practical advice
    • behavior management
    • teaching methods
      • 37% - anything at all
      • 21%  - inclusion
      • 15% - work with trained professionals
      • 8% - visit a school
      • 6% - training packages like TEACCH
      • 5% - ongoing training and observation
• Discussion
  • all groups - consistent with DSM-IV diagnostic criteria
    • doesn't address educational concepts
    • expert ratings were consistent with accepted practices
  • differences of opinion among the three teachers
    • salient diagnostic features
      • not having learning difficulties (I ASSUME THIS MEANS MR?)
      • describe as an emotional disability
      • less likely - developmental disorder
  • could cause teachers to overestimate children's cognition
    • frustration
    • unrealistic expectations
    • development of agg and other problem behavior
  • emotional disorder?
    • did they know what an emotional disorder was?
    • or was is a clear misinterpretation of the disorder?     
      • could affect educational and behavioral intervention
  • not a DD?
    • not familiar with the terminology?
      • expectations could be skewed
      • don't understand the causal processes
      • confused and outdated views
  • training lacking, especially for mainstream teachers
    • less likely to agree with accepted educational practices
    • training needs reported as very high
    • most teachers didn't know when training was available
    • would take any type of training
• Conclusions
  • Stone Autism Questionnaire is a valid tool for assessing autism knowledge
  • technical terms might need to be defined for some populations
  • many teachers lack basic understanding of autism
  • lots of outdated beliefs
    • teachers were very aware of what they didn't know!
    • did know a lot about strategies for teaching
    • more inclusive environments = less knowledge
  • training suggestions
    • ongoing support and guidance
    • establish effective training
    • disseminate research in a digestable format
  • study limitations
    • small sample
    • wider area of sampling
    • not representative