Children with Autism/Asperger Syndrome in General Education Classrooms
Completing this survey assumes your voluntary and informed consent for this data to be used in a
Portland State University research project. Please do not include your name.
*Definition of General Education Classroom: Typical or regular education classrooms where the majority of the children in the
school receive their education. They are staffed by a general education teacher, instead of a special education teacher.
For questions 1 – 7, please check or fill in one answer for each question, unless otherwise requested.
1. What is your child’s gender?

Male
 Female
2. What is your child’s age? _________
3. My child has a medical diagnosis of _____Autistic Disorder _______ Asperger Syndrome ______No medical diagnosis
4. My child has an educational eligibility to receive services for autism spectrum disorder ____ yes ____no
5. My child spends at least 50% of the school day in a general education classroom *(see above for definition) ___ yes ___ no
6. If your child does not spend at least 50% of his/her day in a general education classroom, please describe how often he/she is
included in the general education classroom_______________________________________________________________
7. While in the general education setting, my child has an educational assistant:
_____yes, full time
____yes, part time _____No Assistant
For Questions 8 to 24, please check whether you strongly disagree, disagree, agree, or strongly agree with each statement.
If your child has more than one general education teacher, please think of all of his/her teachers when responding.
Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
8. My child’s general education teacher knows how
to organize and structure the general education
classroom to meet my child’s needs.




9. My child’s general education teacher knows how to
use instructional strategies for students with autism.




10. My child’s general education teacher differentiates
instruction/directions to accommodate students with autism.




11. My child’s general education teacher uses visual schedules.




12. My child’s general education teacher knows how to use
strategies to diffuse behaviors.




13. My child’s general education teacher provides
the accommodations specified in my child’s IEP.




14. My child is appropriately placed in a general education
classroom.




15. Collaborating with my child’s teachers is beneficial.




16. My child needs a paraprofessional
to be successful in the general education setting.




Strongly
Disagree
Disagree
Agree
Strongly
Agree
17. My child’s school district has enough resources
(e.g., funds, trainers) to ensure that staff receive
adequate training in how to teach children with autism.




18. My child’s general education teacher
needs more training in effective strategies and interventions.




19. My child’s special education teacher
needs more training in effective strategies and interventions.







20. Workshops for teachers and parents at my child’s school

would be a good way to deliver training on effective
strategies/interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders.
21. Courses presented online would be a good way to deliver
training to parents and teachers on effective strategies and
interventions for children with autism spectrum disorders




22. Follow-up hands-on training in the classroom will be
needed to ensure the general and special education
teachers understand how to use the strategies learned in
group workshops or online.




23. Follow-up support or training will be needed to ensure
parents understand how to use the strategies learned in
group workshops or online.




24. If PSU receives a federal grant to train educators
and parents to more effectively teach children with autism
spectrum disorders, I would be interested in participating.




25. Please describe how you think school staff (e.g., special educators, general educators, paraprofessionals, speech language
pathologists) are affected when children with autism spectrum disorders are included in the general education classroom (please
include another piece of paper if you need more space to write):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
26. Please describe how you think children with autism and their families are affected when children with autism are included in
the general education classroom classroom (please include another piece of paper if you need more space to write):
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
27. Please describe what type of training is needed and how school staff and parents could best receive training to more
effectively to teach children with autism (please include another piece of paper if you need more space to write):
_______________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thank you for your participation
If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Helen Young at youngh@pdx.edu or 503-725-5207