Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
MA/MGR in Special Educational Needs
Dissertation
A study on how mainstream school teachers teach social skills to children with autism
spectrum disorder
Submitted
by
Rinchen Dorji
Student Number: 07233926
Rinchen Dorji, Student ID Number: 07233926
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
DECLARATION
This thesis has been composed by Mr. Rinchen Dorji for the Erasmus Mundus
Masters in Special Education Needs for the academic year 2007-2008, at
Roehampton University in UK; Fontys University of Applied Sciences in the
Netherlands and Charles University in Czech Republic.
I declare that the thesis is entirely my own work, all references cited have been
acknowledged and the thesis has not been submitted previously for a higher
degree.
Signature: ____________________________
(Rinchen Dorji)
Student Id No: 07233926
August 2008
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Abstract
The inclusion of children with special educational needs in the mainstream school has become
a worldwide educational discourse. Although inclusive education has proven beneficial to
children with special educational needs, the inclusion of children with some disabilities such
as autism spectrum disorder has been fiercely debated. In this context, this study was carried
out with an objective to study how mainstream primary school teachers taught social skills to
the children with autism spectrum disorder. This study was a case study and the data for the
study was gathered using semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and document
analysis.
The study revealed that the teachers in school used a wide range of highly interactive teaching
strategies to teach social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. PECS, TEACCH,
and visual timetables were found to be some of the most commonly followed strategies.
Socially stories, socially speaking, life skills programs, play method, talking partners, buddy
systems, inclusion clubs, and circle time were some other strategies used by teachers in their
teaching. It was discovered that the teachers teaching autistic children in a special education
classes were more knowledgeable and better informed than those teachers who taught
children with autism in the mainstream classroom.
The study also noticed a network of support facilities available for teachers in schools for
teaching social skills to children with autism. The support of the language and speech
therapist, the positive attitudes of the other mainstream teachers, students and parents and the
training and professional development programs for SEN teaching were considered helpful to
the teachers. In addition to this, the budgetary support for SEN activities in school, the
leadership support of the resource base managers or in-charges and the support of SENCO
also contributed in enabling the teachers to teach children with autism spectrum disorder. The
study also revealed the presence of challenges such as difficulty in dealing with autistic
behaviours, shortage of time, and resource constraints.
Finally, this study was carried out in a limited time and could involve a very small sample of
schools and teachers. Further research on this same area of study involving a larger sample of
schools, teachers, and some SEN children would yield better and realistic findings that are
generalizable across different settings.
Key words: autism spectrum disorder, inclusion, Gross National Happiness.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Acknowledgement
This piece of work is the fruition of the combined efforts of so many people. It would be
unfair not to acknowledge these people for their invaluable contributions.
First, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Cathy Svensson for her
patience in providing the necessary support and guidance in bringing this work to this form.
Her constant guidance through insightful suggestions has helped me in getting a clear sense of
direction in my work. I would like to thank her for her patience, care and concern that she
demonstrated in guiding me along the path of this thesis.
I would also like to express my gratitude to Dr. David Rose who, with his wealth of
experience in research and education ensured that everything is safe and on-track in this entire
journey of accomplishing this academic enterprise.
There are a number of people who have been very instrumental even before I actually became
a part of this family of Erasmus Mundus MA SEN 2007-2008 cohort. I would like to thank
Hilary Jones and Christopher Gringsberg for all their administrative and all other
miscellaneous supports.
To all the program convenors and other administrative staff of Roehampton University in
London, Fontys Tilburg, and Charles University in Prague, accept my heartfelt gratitude for
making my stay in your respective locations a lively and an enriching experience.
To my friends of Erasmus Mundus MA SEN 2007-2008 cohort, my fondest appreciations to
all of you for your wonderful friendship. I enjoyed every moment of my life with you. Thank
you all for your company and moral support. You made me see the world through you.
I am indebted to the eight participants from the three schools and the school authorities for
their cooperation and support in this study. My appreciation and gratitude to the
administrative staff of the School Liaison Office at Roehampton University for their patience
and support in getting the school visits arranged despite the busy school year. Without them,
this study would not have materialised.
Finally, very special thanks to my family or their constant encouragement and words of hope
and in coping with my absence. Thank you very much to all once again!
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Table of Contents
Pages
Title Page
i
Declaration
ii
Abstract
iii
Acknowledgement
iv
Table of Contents
vi
Chapter 1: Introduction
01-09
Chapter 2: Literature Review
10-32
Chapter 3: Methodology
33-40
Chapter 4: Data Analysis
41-67
Chapter 5: Evaluation
68-80
Chapter 6: Conclusion
81-88
Bibliography
vi-xv
Appendix A
xvi-xvii
Appendix B
xviii
Appendix C
xix-xx
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Chapter 1
Introduction
1.1 Rationale and background of the study
People with accredited impairments and disabilities have existed throughout history and have
had a presence in all societies (Stiker, 2001). In 2005, the United Nations estimated the
population of disabled people worldwide to about 600 million, of which the vast majority of
persons with disabilities (more than 75%) live in a developing country and are amongst the
poorest of the poor (IDDC, 2005: p. 5). Moreover, these figures are set to rise dramatically
over the coming decades both in the rich ‘developed’ nations of the minority world and in the
poorer ‘developing’ countries of the majority world (IDF, 1998, in Barnes, 2002; WHO,
2001). Such a rapid increase in the number of people with disabilities worldwide raises a
number of issues for those engaged in policy making at all levels and in all states.
The move towards inclusive education where children with special educational needs are
educated in a mainstream school with typically growing children has become a very important
educational discourse in the western world (Moore et al., 1999; Stainback et al., 1994). At the
international level, government responsibility for securing equal rights for disabled people
was formally recognised by the United Nations (UN) in 1981. A year later after the
declaration of the UN’s International Year of Disabled People in 1981, the UN General
Assembly adopted by consensus the ‘World Programme of Action Concerning Disabled
Persons’, which outlined a global strategy on the prevention of disability and the realisation of
the full potential of disabled people. The next 10 years was designated the UN Decade of
Disabled Persons. Between 1990 and 1993 member states, in close collaboration with
international disabled people’s organisations, developed the Standard rules on the
equalization of opportunities for persons with disabilities (UN, 1994).
It is evident that so much has been initiated for the protection and promotion of the rights of
disabled people and considerable progress and achievements have been made in the creation
of an inclusive global society that recognizes and respects the rights and opportunities of
disabled persons. Despite the manifold progress achieved towards bringing the rights and
issues of disabled people to the forefront of any developmental and parliamentary discourses
in the national, regional and international levels, yet, the achievements made hitherto, are still
contested and challenged bitterly. The United Nations (2007) report that while the
international human rights framework has changed lives everywhere, persons with disabilities
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
have not reaped the same benefits and still remain amongst the most marginalized in every
society (p. iii). They still represent the world’s largest and most disadvantaged minority. The
disability scenario reported here corresponds very well with the life of disabled persons in
Bhutan, because the protection and promotion of the rights and needs of people with
disabilities (PWD) seem to have been ignored in developmental policies so far despite the
lofty developmental ideals of pursuing Gross National Happiness1.
The isolation that persons with disabilities have suffered in a society that has often
marginalized PWDs has given rise to a common general understanding and consensus in
developing an ‘inclusive society’, which is seen as a strategy that would include a disability
dimension and that persons with disabilities are meaningfully participating in development
processes and policies. The International Disability Development Consortium (2005) contends
that inclusive development would ensure that all PWDs are recognized as rights-holding equal
members of the society, actively engaged in the development process irrespective of their
disability or other status such as age, sex, race, ethnicity, religion or other status; and that the
activities of development institutions, policies and programmes are consistent with the
promotion and protection of internationally recognized human rights (p. 6). Inclusion is in
fact now championed as a means to remove barriers and remove discrimination of any sort
including that of people with disabilities (Lindsay, 2003). However, it is equally important to
note that inclusion is a complex and contested concept and its manifestations in practice are
many and various.
The state of individuals with autism spectrum disorder is not so different from other forms of
disabilities. They, like any other forms of disabled individuals still form the marginalized
sections of the society, who are highly vulnerable, deplorable and subsequently excluded from
the mainstream society (Barnes, 2007: p. 204). Although inclusive education has proven
beneficial to children with special educational needs including individuals with autism,
Harrower et al (2001) points that the educational inclusion of children with autism and other
disabilities has been a fiercely controversial topic. Further, the challenge of including
individuals on the autistic continuum is further aggravated by the increase in the population of
The guiding philosophy of Bhutan’s development is the unique concept of maximizing Gross National Happiness (GNH),
envisioned by His Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth hereditary monarch of Bhutan. GNH suggests that
happiness is the ultimate objective of development, where development is viewed as a continuous process towards achieving
a sustainable balance between the material and emotional, spiritual, and cultural needs of the people.
1
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
individuals with disabilities including children on the autistic continuum. It is estimated that 1
in 500 to 1 in 1000 in the United States is diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development, 2004). Similarly in the United Kingdom,
one of the most recent and most rigorous studies estimate the overall prevalence of ASD in
children to approximately 60 per 10,000 children (0.6%) (HMIe, 2006: p. 6). Of late, because
of the legal issues stemmed from the civil rights movement, the trend to include children with
autism and other disabilities in mainstream school along with the typically growing children
is on the rise (McDonnell, 1998). Given the specific challenges of autism, an important
question is how much social integration can be facilitated for children with autism in an
inclusive educational setting. There is a need to research whether the SEN teachers have
adequate resources or support for the implementation of inclusive practices or “they are likely
to burn out and fail to address the need for systematic interventions” (Harrower et al.,
2001:779).
Although the concept of autism spectrum disorder as a developmental disorder like many
other disabilities is virtually unknown to the general Bhutanese society, yet to move in
tandem with the rest of the world, the kingdom of Bhutan is also on its crusade towards
developing a nation that is inclusive in all aspects of the process of development including the
provision of educational services accessible to all sections of the society. Bhutan prides itself
in its unique development philosophy of Gross National Happiness (Planning Commission of
the Royal Government of Bhutan, 1999) that attempts to put people’s welfare and happiness
first, as opposed to Gross National Product (GNP) and thus achieve a GNH state where every
individual citizen is happy and contended. Gross National Happiness is a very beautiful and
unique developmental philosophy and it has guided Bhutan in achieving commendable
progress on its path towards modernization. However, if we discuss GNH vis-à-vis the
achievements made in the disability sector, it appears that the rights and protection of people
with disabilities have been hardly addressed thus maintaining a vicious cycle of exclusionary
practices in the society.
Thus, this research study on “Teaching Strategies used by Teachers in a Mainstream Primary
School to Teach Social Skills to Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder” has been an
attempt to investigate how mainstream school teachers teach social skills to children with
autism so that these children could use the social skills for a greater social integration in an
inclusive educational setting. This study is also expected to have a far reaching impact on
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sensitizing the issue of disability and inclusion of people with disabilities with a special
emphasis on the education of children with ASD in Bhutan where the unique needs and
education of individuals with ASD has been largely ignored hitherto.
1.2 Background of the study in the context of Bhutan
Perched in the heart of the Himalayas and isolated from the rest of the world for a long time,
the Kingdom of Bhutan now declared as one of the youngest democracies in the world since
March 2008, opened its doors to the outside world only in the early 1960s. In less than four
decades of development, Bhutan has witnessed far-reaching successes and progress in every
aspect of development guided by the principle of Gross National Happiness (GNH). The
principal tenets enshrined in this unique development mantra states that the ‘disabled persons’
shall enjoy equal rights with other citizens in political, economic, cultural, social fields, in
family life and other aspects. Although the protection of the rights of disabled persons is
mentioned in this vision document, however, the lack of a government policy which is
specifically attuned to address the disability issues in the country appears to have been a
serious barrier in the overall improvement of the lives of disabled persons (Asia-Pacific
Development Center on Disability (APCD) (2008). Further, the lack of legislations for the
protection of the rights of disabled persons in Bhutan also suggests that the people with
disabilities have been sidelined from participating meaningfully in the nation building
process.
The total number of disabled persons in Bhutan as of 2004 was about 21,000 persons with
disabilities, amounting to 3.5% of the total population of about 600,000 (Public Health
Department, 2004). The 2008 World Fact Book (Central Intelligence Agency, 2008) also cites
this same figure. These figures are only suggestive and are not definitive. Thus, there is a
need for a more detailed survey of the whole country to correctly assess the extent and degree
of disabilities and their causes. Like in many other developed and developing countries,
disabled individuals in Bhutan too represent the minority group and most often their needs
remain unseen, their voices unheard, thus depriving them of the most basic welfare services.
The Royal Government of Bhutan appears to have taken some initiatives in addressing the
rights and needs of disabled persons in the country through participation in international
discourses that works for the promotion and protection of rights of PWDs. For instance,
Bhutan is a signatory to the Proclamation of the ESCAP Commission on Disability on the
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Full Participation and Equality of People with Disabilities (APCD, 2008). The Government is
also a signatory to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women
(CEDAW) in 1981 and the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990 (National
Commission for Women and Children, 2006). It also participated in the Forty Ninth Session
(April 1993), of the ESCAP Commission on Disability, on the full participation and equality
of people with disabilities. Bhutan has further reaffirmed the commitment to the proclamation
of Biwako Millennium Decade (2003 – 2012) for Persons with Disabilities. But the mere
participation in such academic and policy related discourses without proper follow-up of
activities and programmes to fit the needs of PWDs in the context of Bhutanese society might
have deterred these activities in making concrete and tangible impact in improving the lives of
PWDs in Bhutan. Further, commitments made in the absence of adequate human resource
expertise and financial constraints in facilitating policies and programs for the inclusion of
PWDs in the mainstream society also seem to have posed a serious challenge in the progress
related to disability issues in Bhutan.
The Ministry of Health in Bhutan claims to have initiated the Community Based
Rehabilitation Programme (CBRP) way back in 1997 through the technical and financial
support of WHO and with an objective to ensure that Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) are
able to maximize their physical & mental abilities, have access to regular services and
opportunities and achieve full social integration within their communities and their societies
(Public Health Department, MoH, 2004). However, the achievements and successes of these
initiatives seem insignificant and hardly noticed because of the programs and activities which
seem to have been mostly coordinated in isolation without the involvement of the key
development partners and stakeholders especially the educational institutions and the people
with disabilities in particular. The top-down approach of these programs and activities which
are often highly prescriptive and designed by people without adequate knowledge of disability
and rights of disabled persons could also be attributed for the staggering pace of development
in the field of disability.
Another very important policy document, the Bhutan 20202 cites the development or
strengthening of the response to the needs of special groups including the disabled, the
2
Bhutan 2020 is often referred to as Vision 2020 document. This is a vision document used as a reference point for
developing any development plans and activities in Bhutan. Bhutan 2020 was developed by the Planning Commission of the
Royal Government of Bhutan in 1997.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
elderly, and the emotionally disturbed and mentally ill as one of the major objectives for the
9th Five Year Plan is to develop or strengthen (Planning Commission of the Royal
Government of Bhutan, 1999). By July 2008, the 10th Five Year Plan begins and there really
isn’t much evidence to show that these goals and objectives have been achieved in the 9th Five
Year Plan activities.
Even the draft Constitution which has been recently developed through the initiative of His
Majesty King Jigme Singye Wangchuck, the fourth hereditary monarch of Bhutan mentions
very vaguely on the protection of the rights of PWDs and their inclusion in the mainstream
society. The Article 9 - Principles of State Policy, Section 22 states that,
The State shall endeavour to provide security in the event of sickness and disability or
lack of adequate means of livelihood for reasons beyond one's control (International
Relations and Security Network, 2004: p. 11).
It is evident that there is a need for a legislation that clearly specify legal duty and obligation
of the state to protect the rights of PWDs, without which the disabled persons will still
continue to be marginalized, oppressed and excluded from full participation in society.
At an international level, Bhutan has ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in
1990 (UNICEF, Bhutan, 2000: 13) and is also a signatory of the Salamanca Statement (1994)
and Dakar Framework of Education for All (2000). However, it is painfully disturbing to see
that not much has been done to protect the rights of children and especially for the inclusion
of people with disabilities in the mainstream school. Even the categories of disability that the
Ministry of Health had identified in what they have claimed as a national survey in 1997
through the assistance of WHO is very narrow and limited only to disabilities that are
restricted to physical impairments such as physical, visual, and hearing impairments. It has
failed to take into account other forms of disabilities, which are developmentally related. For
instance, the majority of the Bhutanese school teachers may not be aware about the existence
of disabilities such as autism, Asperger’s syndrome, emotional and behaviour disorder,
attention deficit hyperactive disorder, etc to name a few. The education of children with such
developmental, emotional and psychological disorders is literally non-existent and the
Bhutanese education system is fundamentally ill-equipped at the moment to address such
needs.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Given such a scenario where there is a serious lack of focus on addressing the concerns and
issues regarding disabled people, the need for the formation of disability associations or
organization which could come up with policies and mandates that ensures for greater
participation of PWDs in the Bhutanese society is crucial and critical.
Such a backdrop, where so much awaits to be done, has prompted and given me the
inspiration to take up this research on how teachers in a mainstream primary school teach
social skills to children with autism, which is the core deficit of children on the autistic
continuum.
1.3 Purpose of the study
The primary purpose of this study was to examine the teaching strategies that teachers in
mainstream primary school use for the development of social skills in children with autism. It
also aimed at getting a deeper insight into the teaching strategies used by the teachers in
mainstream primary schools in the United Kingdom in line with the school policies and
regulations including the support services available for the social development of such
children. An attempt has also been made to look into some of the challenges that teachers face
in teaching social skills to children with autism in a mainstream educational setting. The
research study which will be directed by the following research questions, which comprises of
one main question and three sub-questions:
How do the teachers teach social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder in the
mainstream primary school?
Sub-Questions:
1. What strategies do the teachers in mainstream primary school classroom use to teach
social skills to children with ASD?
2. What kinds of support are available in teaching children with autism spectrum
disorder in the mainstream primary school?
3. What are the challenges faced by teachers in teaching social skills to children with
autism in a mainstream primary school?
1.4 Significance of the study
In addition to getting a personal insight into the unique needs of children with autism, this
study will be of immense help to the Bhutanese education system where autism as a
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
developmental disorder is hardly known and addressed in the educational milieu. Strange but
interestingly, this research will be a pioneer study by a Bhutanese scholar on autism spectrum
disorder, which is hardly known to the teachers in Bhutan. The outcomes of this study will
also serve as a basis in developing teacher education curriculum that takes into account the
unique learning and developmental needs of children with autism and a variety of other
developmental disorders which are mostly left ignored in the educational processes.
In addition to this, the result of this study though focused on children with autism spectrum
disorder will be used to sensitize and create awareness amongst the Bhutanese society
targeting the policy makers, educationists, teachers, parents, and disabled people themselves
in particular on the urgency to formulate policies and legislations that include people with all
forms of disabilities in the creation of a more inclusive society, where PWDs enjoy equal
participation and opportunities of availing public facilities and services with equity and
equality like any other non-disabled people. Furthermore, this particular study, which is a
seminal work on the field of disability by a Bhutanese professional, will serve as a
springboard to ignite an interest in the Bhutanese academia and professionals to further
initiate research and scholarly activities on disability so that unique needs of the PWDs are
brought in the forefront of any development policies and programs in the Bhutanese society.
Lastly, this research has a great potential to encourage disabled people to take up initiatives
through disability associations with the support of international organizations like the
UNICEF, UNDP, and UNESCO in raising their voice to the policy makers and the
government about the need to protect their basic fundamental rights for their effective
participation in being active citizens in an ever changing Bhutanese society, that prides in the
philosophy of Gross National Happiness. These organizations spearheaded by the disabled
people themselves in collaboration with professionals and scholars have the opportunity to
come up with activities and programs that will contribute towards changing the negative
attitudes of the Bhutanese people on disability, which is mostly bounded by blind religious
beliefs and superstitions.
Thus, the significance and scope of this research though limited to children with autism, is in
reality, boundless and limitless. It has the scope of helping the Bhutanese society in general to
look at disability from a sociological lens and thus develop a better understanding about
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
disability so that people with disabilities are included effectively in the mainstream Bhutanese
society.
Given the limited attention accorded in addressing the issues and concerns of people with
disabilities in Bhutan thus far, there is virtually no literature available to build any kind of
discussions on people with disabilities including the individuals with autism spectrum
disorders specific to the context of Bhutan. Therefore, the literature review section appended
in the following chapter establishes the current understanding of autism spectrum disorder
developed on the basis of studies in Western world. However, the relevance and applicability
of the existing literature to the Bhutanese setting is critically drawn wherever possible.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Chapter 2
Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The primary focus of this study is to investigate how mainstream primary school teachers
teach social skills to the children with autism spectrum disorder. However, it is important to
first understand the concept of autism or autism spectrum disorder and some of its key
defining characteristics so that a common understanding of this particular terminology is
established for clarity in the process of this study.
Thus, the first section of this chapter briefly discusses the concept of autism and its
characteristic features that distinguishes autism from other developmental disorders and
disabilities. Given the deficit and difficulties children with autism face in the social and
communication skills, a brief discussion on the importance of the development of social skills
particularly for children with autism has also been reviewed.
In addition to understanding autism as a developmental disorder, I personally see it important
to critically discuss the different perspectives on autism to gain a deeper insight of autism.
Thus, an attempt has also been made to provide a brief critical discussion of the different
perspectives on autism in the western world vis-à-vis the Bhutanese perspective of autism and
general disability issues.
Lastly, this study intends to investigate how teachers in mainstream primary schools teach
social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder. This literature review would remain
incomplete with a discussion of the educational provision for autistic children and some of the
existing teaching strategies used by teachers to teach social skills to children with autism.
Alongside the educational provision and approaches to teaching social skills to children with
autism, the challenges faced by teachers in teaching social skills to children with autism in a
mainstream school setting is also discussed.
The literature review though brief is expected to provide a holistic understanding of the
current literature and the potential contributions that this particular research could make in
gaining a better insight into the teaching strategies that teachers in mainstream primary school
use in the development of social skills of children on the autistic continuum.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
2.2 What is autism?
Autism is a complex developmental disability that typically affects the social interaction and
communication skills. People with autism normally show difficulties in verbal and non-verbal
communication, social interactions, and leisure or play activities. It is a puzzling
developmental disorder that significantly affects a person’s ability to communicate, interact
with others, and learn in a conventional manner (Autism Society of America3, 2006: p.1). To
some, it is perhaps the most mystifying mental-illness ‘entities’ ever identified, where it is
described as an affective disorder, a developmental disorder, a neuro-cognitive disability or a
combination of these (Colombino, 2004).
Gymraeg4 (2006) defines autism as a lifelong developmental disability. It is part of the autism
spectrum and is sometimes referred to as an autistic spectrum disorder, or an ASD. The word
'spectrum' is used because, people with autism differ widely from one another in the intensity
and extent of the difficulties they suffer from their disabilities. The Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, IV-TR (American Psychiatric Association, 2000) describe
autism as a severe and pervasive impairment in the areas of reciprocal social interactions,
communication skills, or the presence of stereotyped behaviour, interests and activities. The
DSM-IV is also one of the most popular diagnostic tools used for the identification of
children suffering from this developmental disorder.
Autism thus is a disorder that affects an individual’s social abilities. It inhibits a person’s
ability to socialize because of an inability to understand other people’s emotions, lack of
reciprocity (conversation skills), poor social imagination, and the use of socially discouraging
behaviours which are mostly disruptive and destructive in nature. Since autism by itself is a
very complex and a puzzling disorder, where the characteristic symptoms shown by children
with this disorder range from very high functioning to profoundly impaired, it is very difficult
to describe autism comprehensively. Thus, the personal understanding offered here shall be
used as an operational definition to understand autism in this study.
3
4
Available at: http://www.autism-society.org (accessed 2/12/2007)
Available at: http://www.nas.org.uk/nas/jsp/polopoly.jsp?d=211 (accessed 16/11/2007)
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Some of the key characteristic symptoms normally displayed by children on the autistic
continuum are critically discussed to establish a clear understanding of what autism entails as
a developmental disorder.
2.3 Characteristics of autism spectrum disorder
Valente (2004) explains that autistic children are unable to use the nonverbal social
communications typical of small children. They fail to recognize the emotional and contextual
meaning of facial expressions, gestures, and nonverbal aspects of emotions. Children with
autism often do not engage in eye contact or pointing at an object in their conversations.
Tanguay (2000) says that they would rather communicate with people through crying or
sometimes even screaming out at a person, which are characteristics of lack basic social and
communication skills. Such deficits in basic social and communication skills could pose acute
challenges in socializing and interacting effectively in school and thereby adversely affecting
their overall academic achievements. The findings of this particular study in some ways is
expected to reveal how the teachers in school address this issue in maximizing the interaction
of children with autistic spectrum disorder despite their inherent challenges in social and
communication skills.
In addition to the symptoms already mentioned, typical behaviours associated to children with
autism are behaviours such as ‘echolalia’, e.g., vocal perseverations or repetitive vocalizations
of speech or sounds they hear, lack of reciprocity and perspective taking, lack of skills in
initiating, terminating or repairing a conversation, difficulty in coordinating gross and fine
motor movement, locating their bodies and space, and difficulty in regulating the level of
sensory input and in joint attention (The National Association of Education, 2006). Children
with autism might very often also display violent and aggressive behaviours, which can
sometimes be self-injurious and also dangerous to others around them.
Three distinctive characteristics emerge from all the characteristics described so far. They are
(a) difficulty with social communication; (b) difficulty with social interaction; and (c)
difficulty with social imagination. Gymraeg (2007) calls these three main distinctive
characteristics of autism as the “triad of impairments” in autism. Indeed, it appears that most
of the challenges that impede the normal development of an autistic child seem to accrue from
their language and communication deficits. The social deficits or the ‘social impairments’- the
inability to understand and respond appropriately to the subtleties inherent in varying social
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
situations (Arrons & Gittens, 1999: p. 68) result in multiple barriers for children with autism
in participating effectively in many different social settings, especially in the school which
demands good social and communication skills for wholesome learning. Although these
deficits can potentially affect children with autistic spectrum disorder in their social
interactions, yet it does not necessarily mean extreme social isolation or a complete lack of
sociability. They do possess the ability to build these abilities and improve their social life
(Hewitt, 2005).
Thus, the following section highlights on the need to address these deficits in children with
autism and accordingly assist them in the development of their social and communication
skills which could expedite their learning in school and also improve the social aspect of their
life on the whole.
2.4 Importance of social skills for children with autism
In the preceding section, we have already seen that social and communication skills are the
two core deficits which challenge children with autism in their daily lived experiences in
different ways depending on the context of the environment. As an educator, I found it quite
intriguing and disturbing especially when I thought of the impact such inadequacies can have
on the educational experiences of children with autistic spectrum disorder. I personally
consider social skills as one of the basic fundamental prerequisites for successful learning in
school alongside a variety of other qualities.
One of the primary concerns regarding the education or learning of children with autism in
mainstream education is the presence of the “triads of impairments” namely communication,
socialization and imagination. The triads of impairments can be so debilitating for autistic
children that they may become vulnerable, a condition which I suppose also puts them at a
serious disadvantage in their learning at school (Gymraeg, 2007; Hewitt, 2005). It can
compound and magnify the difficulty of the learning task and could prevent children with
autism to blend with the rest of the typically growing children in the class and consequently
leave them isolated and excluded from most of the class activities.
Aarons and Gittens (1999) contend that “the pursuit of academic goals is no longer seen as the
only priority, and the development of social and life skills has assumed more importance in
the curriculum” (p. 183). Welton et al (2004) further accentuates the need for basic social
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skills by stating that common social interaction, appropriate language and development of
varied interests are very critical for success in life for any individuals. These researchers
however highlights that these are the very skills that often present the most significant
challenges for individuals with autism (p.40).
Given such a spectrum of disorders, it is essential that children with autism develop social and
communication skills to ease their social interaction in the school and consequently enhance
their learning performance and achievements in school. More importantly, it is imperative that
they are able to overcome some of the characteristic challenges that often exclude them from
the mainstream educational setting. The effectiveness of inclusion, however, depends on the
teacher’s willingness to collaborate and create multiple opportunities for natural-environment
interactions between the general students and the individual with autism. Such a need then
extends the role of the teachers to go much beyond academics to include teaching children
with autism social skills and the ways to deal in a variety of social settings (McGee, 2000).
This further places a very great demand on the task of teachers, who are already struggling
and confused with the enormity of the diverse roles and responsibilities they have to shoulder
in their daily work. Besides the heavy workload, the professional preparation and competence
that the teachers possesses in multi-tasking in such a demanding educational setting is yet
another issue that need to be analyzed.
Finally, this research which intends and purports to study “How teachers in the mainstream
primary school teach social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder?” is expected to
resolve some of the issues related to children with autism in their overall development of
social skills, which might help in their academic achievements in school and their life in
general. However, any measures and interventions designed to address the needs of these
children might be influenced and determined by the way how autism as a disability is
perceived. Thus, the following section deliberates on the different perspectives of autism as a
developmental disorder.
2.5 Perspectives on autism spectrum disorder
Autism as a developmental disorder to some is a fascinating and an intriguing phenomenon.
Hunnisett (2004) for instance, points out that “there is something about the condition that
excites our curiosity” (p.15). The author maintained that autism as a disorder is enigmatic and
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there are two commonly held but conflicting views about autism. One view is that everybody
with “autism has some wonderful, exotic talent that shines through their strangeness” (p.15),
which makes people marvel and wonder in amazement. However, most often this side of
autism is hardly seen and acknowledged. On the other extreme of autism is the more populist
understanding where autism is seen as a disability that completely isolates the individual from
the regular world. The desire to break these social barriers is strong but very often the
corresponding frustrations of the failure to break these walls of social imprisonment leaves
these individuals with feelings of utter despondency and hopelessness. Sadly enough, the
second extreme of these two views is the way how people mostly understand autism.
2.5.1 Historical perspective
A look at different perspectives on autism might help us is developing a better grounding of
autism spectrum disorder. First, Leo Kanner’s historical perspectives which focuses on the
lack of parenting as a probably cause of autism has been discussed. A brief discussion of the
social and medical model of autism is also included followed by the Bhutanese perception of
autism.
Leo Kanner, who is credited to have first talked about this disorder once attributed the cause
of autism to parents, especially the mother, for inadequacy of affection and warmth for the
child, often referred to as “refrigerator mother” and “cold intellectual parents” (Aarons &
Gittens, 1999). This belief and perspective of looking at autism as a problem associated to
parental culpability received further interest with Tinbergen and Tinbergen’s theory in 1972,
which again presented autism as a developmental disorder caused by a breakdown in the
bonding process between mother and child. The claims that autism is a result of inadequate
parenting is still a debatable issue as recent studies show that autism is more associated with
neuropsychological disorder as a frontal lobe disturbance (Ozonoff et al., 1991) with a
significant genetic component (Bailey et al., 1996; Rutter et al., 1993).
The association of autistic spectrum disorder with neuropsychological disorder does appear to
make some sense in explaining autism as a disorder; however, the social model of autism
which views autism from a sociological lens does appeal to me personally and is discussed
briefly in the next section.
2.5.2 Medical model vs. social model of autism
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Although the models of autism is not the focus of this study, yet a brief discussion of the two
main views of autism might be helpful in deepening our understanding of the concept of
autism and accordingly relate the two views to the context of this study.
The medical model primarily views autism or any other forms of disability as a problem of an
individual. It viewed people with autism as a having some ‘physical, sensory and cognitive
impairment’ who are considered to be ‘less than whole’ and consequently ‘sick, diseased and
less able’ (Oliver, 1990). The medical model disregards the role of the environment and the
societal attitudes toward people with disabilities (Edmonds, 2005; Michailakis, 2003). Whilst
the medical model is interesting, many writers argue that it ‘reduces the importance of
political, economic and social factors’ (Michailakis, 2003: p. 209) and have been criticized for
being overly paternalistic, dependency creating and essentially exclusionary (Barnes, 2007: p.
208). Even so, the medical model still seem to dominate the perception of disability in
developing and economically poorer countries like in Bhutan, where people with disabilities
are mostly home bound, pitied and sympathized for their disability.
In contrast to medical model, the social model perceived autism and any disability through the
sociological lens as a product of restrictive social structures rather than looking at disability as
the product of isolated individual pathologies that requires treatment for cure,
institutionalization or rehabilitation. It considers the social structures such as the economy,
governmental policy, state authorities and institutions (e.g. educational systems) as the key
factors in the formation of structures that oppress disabled people on a daily basis. In short,
the social model of disability provides a more holistic perspective to gain an insight into the
disabling tendencies of modern society in order to generate policies and practices to facilitate
inclusionary policies and practices (Barnes, 2007: p.206). Indeed, it is a way of demonstrating
that everyone – even someone who has no movement, no sensory function and who is going
to die tomorrow has the right to a certain standard of living and to be treated with respect.
The social model is the more widely accepted model of the two because it is more rightsbased and seeks social justice and inclusion of people with disabilities in society. However,
the social model has not been spared from criticism both from within and outside the disabled
people’s movement. For instance, Lindsay (2003) and Shakespeare et al (2002) argue that the
social model has completely ignored the experience of impairment in the lives of disabled
people, and undermined the efficacy of medical treatment, and disregarded social differences
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such as gender, minority ethnic groups, sexuality, social class, and age. It is evident that the
debate between these two opposing models is a contentious issue. However, given the
popularity of the social model in the disability studies, autism like many other disabilities is
now viewed more as a socio-educational disorder than looking at it as a disease from a
medical model standpoint. Viewing autism in terms of socio-educational disorder encourages
the use of the term in a contextual sense, rather than as a rigid label (Aarons & Gittens, 1999).
Further, the social model of autism “draws the attention to their limitations in terms of
furthering their empowerment and inclusion in a society constructed by ‘non-disabled people’
for ‘non-disabled people’ (Oliver, 1990).
2.5.3 Perspectives on autism in a Bhutanese society
The Bhutanese perception of autism as a disability is strongly influenced by the religious and
superstitious beliefs because religion is a deeply rooted practice which has a strong influence
in every aspect of the Bhutanese society. The following paragraph is a critical discussion of
the potential influence that religious beliefs might have contributed in the development of a
typical kind of Bhutanese perspective on autism as a disability. What I present here is the
personal observation; yet, I dare to state that it does portray the general Bhutanese perception
of autism as a disability although there is no research evidence to substantiate the claims.
In Bhutan, many developmental disorders and disabilities including autism are still not known
to many. The harm that this ignorance does to children with autism in continuing their
education and participating actively in the social life is further aggravated by the Buddhist
belief in “karma” – the moral law of causation, which forms the fundamental doctrine in
Buddhism (Sayadaw, 2008). Being a very religious society traditionally and culturally, the
perspectives of Bhutanese people is often guided and influenced strongly by this Buddhist
doctrine of “karma” and any mishap or problem is attributed to one’s past or present actions,
things that are inevitable and bound to happen. In a typical Bhutanese family, if a child with
autism or any other form of disability is born, the families would make a few initial attempts
to seek some medical support (only intervention support available in Bhutan) and then give up
accepting the disorder in their child as a phenomenon or an occurrence that was fated and
destined due to one’s “karma”. Very often, if a child in a family shows some behavioural
problems as one of the symptoms of ASD and further fail to use language for speech and
communication at a certain age, the family might probably consult witchcraft or a religious
practitioner to find out the cause of the problem. In most cases, a child with autism or any
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other forms of disabilities in Bhutan remains homebound for life because of lack of support
services aggravated further by the overly zealous religious belief in “karma” which makes the
life of individuals with disabilities more miserable, vulnerable and isolated from the
mainstream society.
Consequently, not many school teachers, educationists, and the society at large have much
knowledge about autism and its characteristics. However, we cannot rule out that we do not
have any individuals with autistic spectrum disorder. One of the probable reasons why the
Bhutanese society on the whole is ignorant of this disability is because we do not have the
expertise and the facilities to help in the diagnosis and identification of individuals with
autism spectrum disorders and other development related disorders. With such blatant
ignorance of the general Bhutanese population including the teachers, a child displaying some
characteristic symptoms of autism in school or at home might very often be branded and
labelled as a naughty, disruptive, disobedient, and difficult child by teachers in school and
parents at home. Because of this ignorance, children with autistic spectrum disorder mostly
fail to perform academically well in school and thus remain as school drop-outs after certain
years of schooling.
I am guilty now that I too believed in the law of “karma” and pitied the plight of people with
disabilities not realizing that my religious beliefs could have contributed in perpetrating the
culture of exclusion of people with disabilities in Bhutan like in many other developing
countries. It does raise some pressing concerns on me as a Bhutanese and more so as a
professional and has inspired me to be more critical and reflective in judging my own
religious and cultural values.
To summarize, the general Bhutanese population still looks at individuals with disabilities as
“ineducable” and has developed a feeling that education is meant for the so-called “normal”
children. This corresponds with the one time belief predating 1970s in the UK, where all
children and young people with severe learning difficulties were considered “ineducable” and
were excluded from education (Warnock, 1978). The disabled people are still considered as
unfortunate, useless, different, oppressed and sick, not capable of living an independent and a
socially active life. The European Disability Forum (2002) describes a “cycle of invisibility”
to illustrate how children with disabilities are excluded from the development cooperation in
European countries. This is very much the case in Bhutan too. Diagrammatically, the “cycle
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of invisibility” is illustrated as:
Invisible disabled people, hidden in
back rooms
“Not a problem in the community”,
thus not a priority
Discrimination and lack of
awareness continues
No services, No inclusion
European Disability Forum (2002: p. 10).
This cycle of invisibility is a typical example of how children with disabilities get excluded
not just from mainstream education but from the mainstream society on the whole.
However, the international treatises such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the
Salamanca Declaration and many others that followed have given a wake up call to the
education policy makers and educationists in Bhutan. The mentality where disability was
accepted as a result of “karma” and left on its own without much intervention to cure or
correct the disabilities in individuals is now gradually giving way to a more inclusive
approach. The Royal Government of Bhutan has taken some initiatives to develop inclusive
child friendly schools and have started a few pilot schools where children with multiple
learning difficulties attend school alongside the typically growing peers. This is a daunting
task, but is yet encouraging to see that a beginning has been made.
2.6.1 Education of children with autism spectrum disorder in the UK
A brief discussion of the educational provision for children with autistic spectrum disorder in
the UK is provided in this section of the chapter to develop a sound understanding of the
context of the study.
Recognizing the challenges that impede the progress of inclusion, the UK government has
launched an ambitious SEN Strategy, Removing Barriers to Achievement, which sets out a 10year ‘vision’ for special education needs (Batten, 2000: p.94). This strategy requires every
school teacher to teach children with SEN, and is expected to be equipped with the skills to do
so. It also proposes a tiered approach to training, where all teachers have core skills, and some
teachers having specialist skills and a pool of teachers with advanced skills in some local
schools. The role of initial teacher training and continuous professional development of
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teachers for taking up this daunting task of overcoming the barriers to achievement and
inclusion is also outlined in this strategy.
In the United Kingdom, there is much support and emphasis on educating children with
special educational needs alongside their typically developing peers in mainstream schools,
wherever possible. The support for the education of SEN children has been initiated in the
United Kingdom since the 1944 Education Act, which entrusted the local authorities5 (LAs) in
England and Wales with a free provision of education for all children. Thereafter,
innumerable Education Acts, Policies and Regulations have been initiated and implemented
solely with an objective to strengthen the educational practice of including children with
disabilities in the mainstream educational setting. For instance, I personally see the Warnock
Report (DES, 1978) as one document which serves as a bedrock for the foundation of
inclusion through its endorsement of integrated practice. It sets clear directions for
educational reforms in making the education system more inclusive in its practice and
operation.
It is noticeable that so much has been done to make the education system responsive to the
diverse needs of individual children and thereby reduce the reliance on segregated SEN
structures (British Eurydice Unit, 2007). For instance, the Special Educational Needs and
Disability Act (SENDA) which was passed in England, Wales and Scotland in 2001
prohibited discrimination against disabled and SEN children in schools, colleges and higher
education (Office of the Public Sector Information, 2001). This Act came into effect in
September 2002 and required schools to make all the necessary adjustments for children with
SEN so that they have the opportunity to attend a school like any other non-disabled children
and have access to equal and quality educational and non-educational services, such as field
trips, examinations and assessments, arrangement for work placements, libraries, and learning
resources. It is a very comprehensive regulation that supports the educational need of children
with disabilities.
SENDA to me embodies all other Regulations and Acts that protects the rights of SEN
children in an educational setting because it is so explicit in describing the roles and duties of
all stakeholders in the provision of wholesome educational and other related services in
5
Formerly called as Local Education Authorities (LEAs).
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maximizing the inherent potentials of all people with disabilities. For instance, a parent whose
child is refused a school due to disability now can approach the Disability Tribunals for
support and protection, whereas such incidences may remain unaddressed in countries like
Bhutan, where such a policy and regulation does not exist.
The SEN Code of Practice which was first drawn up in September 1994 by the then
Department of Education (DFE) could have also contributed significantly in the provision of
education to special needs children in the UK. The SEN Code of Practice which was later
revised for England (2001), Wales (2001) and Scotland (1998) separately provides a very
practical, hands-on guidance to local authorities (LAs) and the governing bodies of all schools
on their responsibilities towards children with special needs (DfES, 2001). Such a policy in
place assists the Special Education Coordinators (SENCOs), the location authorities (LAs),
the parents, heads of schools, teachers, and all other relevant stakeholders in their roles and
duties in the provision of educational facilities that rightfully belongs to all children. There is
a very systematic process of how children with SEN are identified for the provision of
educational services at par with any other non-disabled children.
2.7 Strategies teachers use for teaching social skills to children with autism
The investigation of teaching strategies used by teachers to teach social skills to children with
autism is the primary objective of this study. To do this, a brief review of the existing
teaching strategies followed by teachers in teaching social skills to children with autism will
further help us to probe deeper in understanding the educational provision for children with
ASD in school.
Thus, teaching strategies such as the TEACCH, PECS, social stories and peer tutoring,
naturalistic teaching, giggle-game, audio-visual aids, and Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
have been briefly discussed as some of the existing teaching strategies followed by teachers in
teaching children with ASD.
2.7.1 TEACCH
Though developed in the 1970s by Eric Schopler at the University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill in the United States, Jordan and Jones (1999) reports that TEACCH is widely
used in UK schools through training programme of short courses and although parental
involvement is the core of this programme, the researchers mention that in the UK, TEACCH
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is used more in school than in preschool settings. TEACCH (Treatment and Education of
Autistic and related Communication handicapped CHildren) has wrought desirable and
satisfying results and success over many years and in many different settings (Aarons &
Gittens, 1999). Since children with autistic spectrum disorder have difficulties in their social
and communication skills, TEACCH can be an appropriate teaching strategy because it
includes both language and behaviour-focused programmes, which are designed to address
the needs of an individual child. Moreover, there are evidences that TEACCH has been so
successful (Jordan and Jones, 1999; Aarons & Gittens, 1999) and was endorsed by the
National Autistic Society to be used by professionals in the field of autistic disorders.
However, despite its success in the public school systems for teaching children with autistic
spectrum disorder, TEACCH has been criticised for its effectiveness because TEACCH has
not been able to publish any comprehensive long-term studies affirming its effectiveness in
treating and educating children (http://www.autismweb.com/teacch.htm). Further, critics have
also attacked that TEACCH is misrepresented as a teaching or a learning system. They argue
that,
TEACCH actually is nothing more than a behavioural management system, which,
when properly implemented delivers more predictable behaviour and cooperation
from the TEACCH subject, an autistic child (http://www.autism-pdd.net/teacch.html).
This study result of this study might provide useful information in resolving some of these
contentions and debates about the application and effectiveness of TEACCH.
2.7.2 Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) which aims to teach spontaneous
communicative skills to children with ASDs within a social context through the use of
symbols and pictures seems to be gaining popularity as a strategy for teaching children on the
autistic continuum (Bondy and Frost, 1994a). Bondy and Frost who are also attributed for
initially developing PECS in the United States reported encouraging results in their studies
whereby children with autistic spectrum disorder not only developed spontaneous
communication and speech but also demonstrated a reduction in their autistic behaviour after
the use of PECS (Magiati & Howlin, 2003). A similar positive impact of the use of PECS has
been noted in the schools in the UK ever since PECS was formally established in 1998
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(Baker, 2000; Baker and Webb, 1999; also see PECS UK official website6). Magiati and
Howlin (2003) in a pilot study on the evaluation of the effectiveness of PECS for children
with autistic spectrum disorders in the schools across the UK also noticed a significant
improvement in the children’s development and use of communication and speech through
the use of PECS by teachers in school. However, the authors report that since PECS is usually
implemented alongside many other teaching and intervention methods, “the extent to which
these may influence children’s progress over and above the effects of PECS still remains
debatable and unknown” (p. 300).
2.7.3 Naturalistic teaching
The “naturalistic teaching” approach is a highly stimulating and child-centered teaching
approach which creates a variety of play and interactional activities between the teacher and
the child with autism tailored specifically to meet the unique needs of children with autism
spectrum disorder(Bailey & Wolery, 1992; Harrower & Dunlap, 2001). Kohler et al (2001)
explain that naturalistic teaching encourages the child to be more proactive in initiating social
interactions in contrast to the conventional practices where children passively respond to adult
prompts and directions. I personally see that this naturalistic teaching based on environmental
structuring and following a child’s lead is ideally suited to young children with autism, who
not only exhibit significant delays but also limited interest in interacting with others (Koegel
& Koegel, 1995).
2.7.4 Social stories and peer tutoring
Many other strategies have been used to help autistic children in improving their social skills
such as the social stories or social scripts, peer mediated strategies involving peer tutoring and
peer modelling, cooperative learning groups, class wide interventions in inclusive settings,
pivotal skills, and initiation by children with autism themselves (Weiss et al, 2001). The peer
mediated strategies that involves peer tutoring and peer modelling, and teaching children and
peer buddy systems is quite interesting because it creates an inclusive setting where the
children with autism get to learn and develop their social skills by interacting with different
peers at different times. Belchic and Harris (1994) support this viewpoint where they have
noted that initiation skills learnt by children with autism in the classroom transferred across
settings and across individuals like to the playground, to an unrestrained child with autism,
and to siblings at home.
6
http://www.pecs.org.uk.
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2.7.5 Giggle-game
One strategy or a program that appears very interesting in helping children with autism
develop their communicative and social skills is the “giggle game” that Sonders (2002)
discusses in her book titled “Giggle Time – Establishing the Social Connection: A Program to
Develop the Communication Skills of Children with Autism”.
The “giggle game” is not just a game that engages the child to teach them turn taking skills
but it also establishes a basis for pre-conversational speech n children with autism. The game
by itself is a mini-conversation, with each partner taking a communicative turn and waiting
for the turn of the other. In addition to this, just like in a conversation, the giggle game also
teaches a variety of other social and communicative skills such as “joint attention, staying in
close proximity, enjoying each other’s company and social reciprocity” (Sonders, 2002: p.
18), which are all the basic fundamental social skills for adapting in the social environment.
2.7.6 Use of TV and video prompts
One very interesting strategy that can be used for teaching children with autism the
appropriate social skills is the use of TV and video prompts because most of the young
children appear willing and interested in watching such programs which are socially
beneficial (Hewitt, 2005: p.33). This is a very friendly and a non-threatening way of helping
autistic children to acquire acceptable forms of social skills. Hewitt (2005) further contends
that this practice could even be extended to videoing those pupils in need of specific
behavioural support to watch and analyze their own behaviours. However, to be able to detect
a problem in their behaviour and accordingly analyse their behaviour, children need to
possess a relatively higher levels of cognitive capacity. Since children with autism mostly
lack in this, I am suspicious if this particular strategy would work well with autistic children.
Nevertheless, it does appear very interesting and seem worth trying.
2.7.7 Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA)
Among the current techniques used for behavioural improvement of children with autism,
which includes social and communication skills, Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA), is the
most supported by research (Kirk, Gallaghar & Anastasiow, 2000). Many other strategies
discussed in this review of literature follow the principle of applied behaviour analysis, i.e.
‘ABC’ (antecedent behaviour; the behaviour itself; and the consequence). Environment plays
a very critical role in the application of ABA in teaching. This is supported by Potter and
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Whittaker (2001) and Welton et al (2004) who maintained that the nature of the
communication environments is crucial because the success of children’s learning of social
and communication skills may possibly depend on the environment which can either be
enabling or disabling.
In summary, it is important that in discussing the strategies and approaches to help children
with autism learn social and communication skills, care should be taken to create a
communication environment that is enabling, one that facilitates and empowers the children
with autism to initiate spontaneous communication7. However, it is essential to note that the
success of one strategy with one group of autistic children does not necessarily guarantee
success with other children as well because autism is a spectrum disorder, where children
differ greatly in terms of the severity of their disorder and their needs subsequently. It is
important to understand that there is no “cookbook” approach to working with children with
autism (Welton et al, 2004: p.42) and this can pose a challenge for parents and educators alike
in teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder.
Given the complexity of autism as a spectrum disorder and the challenges involved in
teaching social skills to the children on autistic continuum, there are some support
mechanisms or services that are instituted as part of the professional support in the school
system to aid teachers in effective teaching of social skills to autistic children. Thus, the next
section discusses some of the support services that facilitate teaching children with ASD in
the mainstream educational setting.
2.8 Kinds of support available in teaching social skills to autistic children
The quality and the kinds of support that mainstream school teacher receive to teach social
skills to children with ASD could determine the success of the inclusion of children with ASD
in the mainstream school. Schools need staff training, resources and specialist support to help
them support pupils with ASD. Batten (2005) supported this claims and argued,
Placing a child in mainstream classrooms without adequate support places unfair
pressures on teachers. For the child, it will lead to integration without social inclusion
or educational progress at best, and destructive behaviour and exclusion from school in
the worst cases (p.94).
7
It is a communication that occurs ‘in the absence of prompts or initiations from others.’
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In view of this, my second research question seeks to examine the kinds of support available
for teachers teaching autistic children in school. Besides being able to closely examine and
understand the current support services available to teachers in teaching children with ASD,
the responses to this research question is expected to be helpful in giving future directions in
the provision of education to autistic children in the mainstream school.
2.8.1 Training and professional development
Quality professional development for teachers has never been more important that it is today
given the ever increasing expectations of quality education (Ganser, 2000). Such expectations
challenges teachers to constantly learn new skills and perspectives while simultaneously
unlearning practices and beliefs that have become obsolete and no longer useful. If the
inclusion of children in a mainstream school setting is to succeed, then the training of teachers
to teach social skills to children with autism is something that cannot be compromised. Batten
(2005) suggests that “where training and resource needs are not met, the principle of inclusion
is undermined” (p.94).
At a policy level, Autism-Europe (2005) states that it is the legal responsibility of all states to
train teachers with the minimum standards of qualification in any educational settings to
ensure that children with ASD receive the best possible education in a learning environment
that is highly interactive and engaging in nature. It also asserts that teachers should have
access to special hands-on training programmes at regular intervals which promote
continuous training and consultation with well-qualified and experienced trainers to facilitate
research-based practices in ASD (Autism-Europe, 2005: p. 2). Such training opportunities
wherein the teachers can have a regular dialogue and consultation with the more experienced
trainers with specialization and professional expertise in autism spectrum disorder could
greatly assist the school teachers in not only developing a sound knowledge of autism but
would be of immense help in updating the mainstream teachers’ pedagogical knowledge and
competence in teaching autistic children. In addition to this, Autism-Europe (2005) has
recommended that,
“The States should establish a plan to provide priority funds for pre-service and inservice training of teachers, paraprofessionals, and other personnel providing
educational programmes for persons with autistic spectrum disorders, including
children under 3 years of age and adults” (p. 2).
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Such a recommendation, if applied in practice, can have a positive impact for many
professionals including teachers to develop the competence to deliver quality education which
is realistic and meaningful to any children in their daily lives.
The training of teachers to be able to teach children with ASD in a mainstream school relate
well with the UK government’s SEN Strategy, Removing Barriers of Achievement, which is a
10-year ‘vision’ document for special educational needs. Batten (2000) refers to this strategy
which requires that “every teacher should expect to teach children with SEN, and must be
equipped with the skills to do so” (p.94). In line with this, the UK government has drawn a
strategy for tiered approach to training, where all teachers have core skills, some teachers in
all schools have specialist skills and some teachers in some local schools have advanced
skills. This appears to be a very sensible approach but overly ambitious to achieve. I wonder
how much the UK government have achieved in training the teachers through this new
proposal.
Despite the institution of so many legislations and policies to include children with disabilities
in the mainstream educational setting and make education more inclusive, there are still cases
where children with disabilities are still left out from the mainstream education or their needs
are not properly addressed in schools for so many reasons. Barnard et al (2002) pointed that
the training needs of teachers in autism at present cannot be overstated and cited the National
Autistic Society’s research which indicated that 72 percent of schools are dissatisfied with the
level of their teacher’s training in autism. The researchers further contend that those school
who have children with ASD, only 22 per cent of teachers had received any autism training,
the majority between one to four hours. If this is the reality, then in the name of inclusion,
many children with ASD in the mainstream schools could suffer due to the provision of
education where the teachers do not really have the knowledge and expertise of differentiating
their classroom instructions, thus making the lives of children with ASD far more miserable.
2.8.2 Individualized Education Program/Plan (IEP)
The use of Individualized Education Program (IEP), alternatively called as “Individualized
Education Plan”, is another good practice that is followed in the schools in the United
Kingdom and many other European and Western countries (Autism-Europe, 2005; Audit
Commission, 2002; DfES, 2001). The Education System in the United Kingdom mandates
that teachers at all levels prepare IEP for teaching children with autism and the SEN Code of
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Practice (DfES, 2001) provides a very explicit direction on the processes of the use of IEPs
for the provision of an education that addresses the unique needs of children with SEN in
general.
Lee-Tarver (2005) cites Kaye and Aserlind (1979) who described IEP as a product and a
process. The author cites,
It is a product because it serves as roadmap or a blue print for teachers and parents to
ascertain improvements in the child’s functioning in terms of their academic, social and
academic domains. As a process, the IEP is collaboration between teachers,
administrators, parents and when appropriate the child, in determining goals and
objectives.
For a child with autism, IEP would help in directing and guiding teachers of children on the
autistic continuum to plan and teach their lessons based on the unique needs of children with
autism. The use of IEP in the education of children with disabilities has become so essential
and it plays more important role than ever before in the provision of services to children with
disabilities and their families (Huefner, 2000). Further, Lee-Tarver (2005) in his study of the
IEP found that majority of the teachers in his study considered IEP as an important
educational tool and helped the teachers in setting their educational goals and objectives
based on the need of the child. The teachers in the same study also supported the use of IEP in
their teaching because they felt it made their teaching better organized and better structured.
Such a document which assists teachers in making their instructional practices inclusive can
be a very useful source of support for teachers.
2.8.3 Support of Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO)
The Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) in school also provides support to
teachers teaching children on the autistic continuum in mainstream school (DfES, 2001). The
discussion on the SENCO’s role is important here because SENCOs assist mainstream
teachers in their inclusive practices. The assistance the SENCO provides to teachers in their
preparation of IEPs and setting the targets to be achieved with respect to every individual
child could be a great sense of relief for teachers especially when they are bogged down with
heavy teaching load. The SENCOs also liaise with the Local Authorities (LAs) and other
social services agencies such as the language and speech therapists, whose support is highly
essential to facilitate the development of linguistic competence and thus support the thinking
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as well as communication skills of children with autistic spectrum disorder (DfES, 2001: p.
86).
2.8.4 Learning support assistants
All mainstream school teachers teaching children with special educational needs are assisted
by learning support assistants, who most often are attached to each child with special needs
(Audit Commission, 2002). However, the quality of support that LSAs are able to provide
mainstream teachers in teaching children with special needs including children with autism is
still questionable as the HMIe (2006) reported that majority of them lacks proper training and
pedagogical knowledge of dealing with autistic children. But regardless of the quality of their
assistance and support, they still serve as a source of support for teachers teaching children in
SEN children in the mainstream school setting.
In addition to the professional development, individualized education plans (IEPs), SENCOs,
and the learning support assistants, leadership support, the Local Authorities, language and
speech therapist also serve as a very powerful support for teachers in teaching autistic
children (HMIe, 2006). However, even with al these support services made available in
schools, teachers still face a number of difficulties and challenges in teaching children with
ASD in mainstream schools.
Conclusion
Thus, if there is varying levels of support for teachers teaching social skills to children with
autism, the success of helping children with ASD to develop and improve their social skills in
a mainstream educational setting will not be far. To do this all schools should be prepared to
take in children on the autistic spectrum and they must be appropriately resourced to meet
their needs. In addition to the resource support, being able to teach children with autism
requires the basic understanding of the disability and how it manifests in each individual. It
should be understood that adjusting the school environment and teaching practices to include
children with ASD might not necessarily be expensive and complex. It all depends on one’s
perception and attitude.
2.9 Challenges in teaching children with autism
The challenge in teaching social skills to children with autism in a mainstream school is huge
and abundant. The challenges are so intense at times. This is supported by the NAS survey
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which found that 21 per cent of children with autism were one time excluded from school just
because the school was unable to cope with the child (Barnard et al, 2000: p.19). To be able to
probe deeper into the ways how teachers in mainstream primary school teach social skills to
children with autistic spectrum disorder, it is important to understand some of the challenges
teachers face in teaching children with ASD. This could help planning for future interventions
and measures to curb such challenges which impede the successful inclusion of children with
autism in the mainstream school.
2.9.1 Challenges posed by the autistic behaviour of children with ASD
Children with autism are consistently inconsistent in their abilities and their behaviours, and
this makes teaching them a big challenge (Magnusen, 2005: p.14). Teachers teaching children
with special educational needs have often expressed problems and frustrations in having to
teach children with special needs, which is very tiring, and stressful (Oliver & Williams,
2005). McGrath (1995) further adds that apart from the heavy emotional toll it takes to teach
children with autism and other special needs, this exhausting and stressful situation can also
affect the teachers’ personal health and family life (p.8). In addition, the challenges presented
by the behaviours of children with autistic spectrum disorder in the classroom could also pose
a risk in stretching the teachers beyond limit and thereby decrease their professional
commitment in teaching such children.
2.9.2 Inadequate training
The professional development and training of teachers in teaching children with autism can
become a supporting condition when the teachers have the opportunity to attend regular and
timely professional development and training programs. On the contrary, it can become a
constraint or a challenge when these opportunities are not there for teachers. The later is what
will be discussed here.
The inadequate training and preparation of teachers in teaching children with autism is yet
another malaise that seem to trouble teachers in mainstream schools. Burack et al. (1997)
stress the crucial role that the teachers play in the success of inclusive education. Helps et al.
(1999) found in their survey of teachers teaching children with autism in England that
whereas around half of the specialist teachers had some training in autism, only 5 percent of
the 22 mainstream teachers dealing with autistic children had received some kind of training.
Other studies further confirmed the same problem of little guidance or lack of training in
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dealing with autism in a mainstream classroom setting as an obstacle in teaching effectively
despite the teachers’ firm commitment to the principles of inclusive education (McGregor and
Campbell, 2001; Robertson et al., 2003). The teachers suffered from increased levels of stress
when they were placed in a situation where they have to guide an untrained and inexperienced
teaching assistants in the school when they themselves were working in the dark in the
absence support and other professional services that were ill-timed and inadequate (Glashan et
al, 2004: p.53).
Despite these innumerable challenges, many nations have witnessed considerable progress in
mainstreaming education and can applaud the persistence and innovation which teachers have
always demonstrated in their daily contact with autistic children. Hunnisett (2004) cites the
experience of one of the teacher’s positive experience of teaching autistic children as follows”
“It is these ‘ordinary’ children with autism who are the very ones we should be
celebrating. These are the ones who should have a public voice because each one of
them helps us see beyond stereotypes, labels, diagnosis and misconception to bring us
back to the truth that we are all a part of this rich spectrum of humanity that makes up
the human race” (p.14).
It is this positive and the rewarding experiences that could be used to capitalize on the
benefits and the scope of including children with autism in the mainstream educational
environment.
2.10 Summary
To conclude, autism is a pervasive developmental disorder which challenges the social,
communication and imaginative abilities of children on the autistic continuum. Autism is a
very complex disorder and there is no one specific theory to explain the root cause of this
disability. Leo Kanner’s concept of “refrigerator mothers” to explain autism as a disorder is
has been replaced by a more popular theory called the “social model” of disability, which
views autism form a social standpoint. In effect, it challenges the claims of the “medical
model” of autism.
Like many other forms of disabilities, children with autism still form the minority groups
which remain excluded and vulnerable from a society that is disabling. Attempts have been
made to include children with autism in the mainstream educational environment through the
policy of inclusive education and a variety of teaching strategies are applied to develop their
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social skills, which is crucial for their effective participation in an inclusive educational
setting. The task of teaching children with autistic disorder in a mainstream school is a
daunting one given the lack of social, communication and imaginative abilities, which are the
basic fundamental abilities required for any kinds of educational experiences.
Given the daunting task of teaching children with autism, who often times lack the basic
social skills to adapt in a mainstream society has motivated me to carry out a case study on
“How teachers teach social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder in the
mainstream primary school?”
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Chapter 3
Research Method
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, I have discussed the research method chosen for this particular study on “How
mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to children with autistic spectrum
disorder?” Before driving straight into the research method that is chosen for this particular
research, a brief critical discussion of the concept of research and the two main research
paradigms i.e., positivism and interpretivism is discussed to provide an overview of where
this particular study fits in the overall research paradigm. This is followed by the discussion
of “case study”, a research method chosen for this study on with some of my own personal
justifications supported by some scholarly arguments that supports case study as a research
method suitable for this type of educational research. The other processes of research like the
type of research participants, data collection, data analysis and ethical issues are also
discussed in this same chapter.
3.2 Research and Research Paradigms
Research is a systematic search for knowledge. It has been described as a systematic
investigation (Burns, 1997) or inquiry whereby data are collected, analysed and interpreted in
an effort to "understand, describe, predict or control an educational or psychological
phenomenon or to empower individuals in such contexts" (Mertens, 2005, p.2). Research then
could be understood as one of the many different means employed for understanding and
knowledge construction but quite different and distinct from other ways of knowing where the
process is not systematic.
Any activity that leads to the discovery of additional facts and knowledge may not necessarily
qualify to be called as research. A research has its own culture that regulates and directs its
process of finding new facts and information. Research produces and creates knowledge for
the society. It helps people arrive at solutions in solving problems and obstacles. It is an
academic exercise that is taken rigorously with a clear intent and purpose. A research then is
any academic enterprise that is carried out systematically and rigorously with a clear intent
and purpose, which leads to the production of more knowledge and solutions in solving
problems and obstacles.
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Thus, my study on “How mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to children
with autistic spectrum disorder?” then, qualifies to be called a “research” because it is a
systematic and a rigorous academic enterprise taken up with a clear intent and purpose of
gaining an insight into the way how teachers teach social skills to children with autistic
spectrum disorder in a mainstream primary school. Besides, this particular study also attempts
to address the obstacles or challenges in teaching children with ASD in mainstream primary
schools and thus arrive at some potential solutions at the end of the study.
Further, the conduct of research is governed by a theoretical framework and underlying
beliefs that a researcher has about the social world and humankind (Kuhn, 1970). These set of
beliefs and assumptions that influence the nature of how a research is carried out by
researchers and scholars is called as research paradigm. Even for my research, I need a
paradigm, a theoretical framework within which I can undertake the study. The next section is
a critical discussion of the two competing research paradigms namely positivism and
interpretivism.
3.3 Research paradigms
Kuhn (1970) described paradigm as “the entire constellation of beliefs, values and
techniques, and so on shared by the members of a community” (p.79). To Guba & Lincoln
(2000), a paradigm is an interpretative framework. It is a basic set of beliefs that guides
action, containing the researcher’s epistemological, ontological and methodological premises
(p.19). A research paradigm seems like a social tradition of different ethnicities that
distinguishes the practices and customs of one culture from another creating cultures and
societies uniquely distinct from one another.
Of the two research paradigms thus mentioned, the interpretive/constructivist research
paradigm, which emphasizes on the understanding of the "the world of human experience"
(Cohen & Manion, 1994: p.36), seem to suggest that "reality is socially constructed"
(Mertens, 2005: p.12; Gray, 2004). This contradicts with the positivists’ beliefs and
assumptions which consider reality as a single entity, detached and quite independent from
the researcher (Mertens, 1997). Within the interpretive research paradigm, there are
numerous research methodologies that can be used for research. For instance, there are
interpretive research methodologies such as the case study, ethnography, participant
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observation, performance ethnography, phenomenology, ethnomethodology, grounded theory,
and action and applied research (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005, p. 23).
This particular study seeks to probe deeper into the ways how teachers in mainstream primary
school teach social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder. It is explorative and
investigative in nature. Therefore, this study will employ case study as the research method,
which will operate within the interpretivist research paradigm which believes in the social
construction of reality.
3.4 Case study
Case study as a research method is familiar to social scientists because it is often a research
approach used in subjects like psychology (Freud), medicine (case analysis of a problem), law
(case law), and political science (case reports) (Creswell, 2007). Though limited in certain
ways like any other research methods, the use of case study as a research approach in the field
of education cannot be unacknowledged as it seems to have created a very safe niche in the
field of education too. Case study indeed has managed to establish a long, distinguished
history as a research method across a variety of disciplines.
A case study is commonly understood as a “strategy for doing research which involves an
empirical investigation of a particular contemporary phenomenon within its real life context
using multiple sources of evidence” (Yin, 1984; 2003; Robson, 2002: p.178). Cohen et al
(2006) describes a case study as a specific instance that is bounded by a system which can be
a child, a clique, a class, a school, a community which makes up the subject of research or
study. Like many other researchers who view case study as a strategy of inquiry,
methodology, or a comprehensive research strategy (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Merriam, 1998;
Yin, 2003), Creswell (2007) also offers a very holistic and an all-embracing definition of case
study as a research method in the following words:
Case study research is a qualitative approach in which the investigator explores a
bounded system (a case) or multiple bounded systems (cases) over time, through
detailed, in-depth data collection involving multiple sources of information (e.g.,
observations, interviews, audiovisual material, and documents and reports), and
reports a case description and case-based themes (p.73).
It is evident that the concentration and focus on one specific or a multiple set of cases
(phenomenon) studied in a particular context or setting is of prime importance in a case study.
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These are exactly what constitute the core elements of my proposed study. I intend to study a
case or a situation i.e., “How mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to
children with autistic spectrum disorder?” This is the case or the phenomenon that I have
identified to investigate in my study. This case or the phenomenon is bounded by systems
because I want to conduct this study in a particular setting that is in a “mainstream primary
school where there are children with autistic spectrum disorder being taught by mainstream
school teachers alongside typically developing peers”. Lastly, I will be using multiple sources
of information for my data collection such as the qualitative one-to-one interviews with
school teachers, classroom observations and school policy documents.
Case study is chosen as the research method for this particular study because it is particularly
useful for responding to how and why questions about a contemporary set of events (LeonardBarton, 1990). In my study, one of my research questions seeks to answer “how” the teachers
teach social skills to children with autism in a mainstream school and “why” they follow that
particular teaching approach or strategy. Further, case study offers an appropriate avenue for
this type of study better than other research methodologies because my study requires a
deeper understanding of how mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to
children with autism in a mainstream school environment.
Moreover, Silverman (2005) contends that case study research taken seriously provides the
opportunity of producing a thorough, analytically interesting research study to deepen the
understanding of the phenomenon investigated (p.125). This is exactly what I intend to
achieve through this study i.e., develop an in-depth understanding of how teachers in
mainstream primary schools teach social skills to children with autism in a mainstream school
setting. Given these justifications, I decided to choose case study as a research method for this
particular study.
3.4 Selection of Participants and research site
Creswell (2007) contends that purposeful sampling offers the opportunity to gather
information rich enough to purposefully inform an in-depth understanding of the research
problem and the central phenomenon or the case in study (p.125). In selection of the research
participants and the study sites, I did not have much choice as it was largely determined by
the availability of the teachers willing to participate and the availability of schools.
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This study took place in three mainstream primary schools in the UK. Two schools had
special units attached to the school and the third school did not have a special unit but all
three schools had children with autistic spectrum disorder. Initially, I wanted to interview just
mainstream school teachers teaching children with autistic spectrum disorder but when I
realized that I did not have much choice in choosing the research sites and the teachers willing
to participate in this study, I had to leave my selection of research participants and sites open
and more flexible. Thus, instead of interviewing just mainstream primary school teachers
teaching autistic children, I finally ended up interviewing one Inclusion Managers, two Incharges of a special unit or a resource base attached to school, two special education teachers
and three mainstream school teachers. This in fact, would add to the validity of the study as I
would be able to get the perspectives of mainstream teachers vis-à-vis the special needs
teachers who teach within the SEN setting. All the participants who took part in this study
were females and indirectly show the gender imbalance that exists in the teaching profession
in the UK.
Besides choosing the sites and the participants who had the highest potentials of providing
with thick, descriptive and valid accounts of the case under study, Creswell reminds that
decisions on issues such as “who or what should be sampled, what form the sampling will
take, and how many people or sites need to be sampled” (p.125) are also equally important in
strengthening the reliability and validity aspects of the research. In my study, the fact that I
had been able to involve a variety of professionals with different roles in the three schools
have helped me to gather information from different sources and perspectives, which greatly
contributed in strengthening the validity and reliability of this study.
3.5 Data Collection Tool
A researcher has the choice of selecting research tools based in the nature of the study and the
research method and framework adopted for this study. For this particular study, I have used
interviews, classroom observation and policy documents as the different sources of
information required for this study.
3.5.1 Interviews
For this study, I used qualitative research interviews as the primary data collection tool. A
total of eight professionals from the three schools comprising of special education teachers,
mainstream school teachers, inclusion managers, and resource base or special units inRinchen Dorji, Student ID Number: 07233926
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charges, all involved in teaching children with autistic spectrum disorder were interviewed on
an average of 30-45 minutes. The reason why I chose interviews as the primary research tool
is because Creswell (2007) and Gray (2004) both suggest interviews as possibly the best
approach for collecting data if the objective of the research is largely exploratory involving
description and eliciting a range and depth of information about a phenomenon or a case. My
research on “How mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to children with
autism spectrum disorder?” is largely exploratory and descriptive in nature and the use of
interviews will enable me to obtain thick and rich descriptions to explain the phenomenon or
the case identified for this study.
Amongst the different types of interviews, I used semi-structured interviews because it
provided me with the opportunity to ‘probe’ for more detailed responses where the
participants could be asked to clarify on what they said so that in-depth picture of the case
under investigation was obtained (Gray, 2004: 214). To keep the interviews more focused on
the case under investigation, a set of key guiding questions were used to ensure that the
conversations during the interviews did not digress widely from the case in hand (see
Appendix B). These key guiding questions primarily constituted of the teaching strategies
used by teachers for teaching autistic children, the kinds of support services available for
teachers to teach these children, and the challenges involved in teaching social skills to
children with ASD.
To get the best from the interviews with the participants, I had taken note of Robson’s (2002)
advice to,
…listen more than you speak; put questions in a straightforward, clear and nonthreatening way; eliminate cues which lead interviewees to respond in a particular
way; and enjoy it (p. 274).
All interviews were audio-taped with the consent of the participants by using very high
quality digital voice recorders because this is highly crucial for the conduct of any successful
interviews.
3.5.2 Classroom observation
In addition to the interviews, classroom observation was another tool used for collection the
data required for this study. For Cohen et al. (2006), ‘observation methods are powerful tools
of gaining insight into situations’, (p. 315). Their directness enables the researcher to collect
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live data in situ rather than at second hand, (Robson, 2002, p. 310). To make the classroom
observation more systematic and structured, I developed an observation sheet which included
information on the frequency of interaction between the teacher and autistic child, the autistic
child to the teacher, the autistic child to another child and vice-versa. Besides the verbal
interaction, the visual and gestural cues indicating the autistic child’s interaction with the
teacher and other children, and the overall classroom atmosphere such as the sitting
arrangement, the kind of student groupings, etc were all recorded through these classroom
observations. Finally, this observation sheet also included a section with a “reflective notes”
column which included the observer’s reflections on activities and summary conclusions
about activities (see Appendix C). This observation notes greatly helped in the development
of themes later in the data analysis and interpretation (Creswell, 2007: p.138).
The data gathered from the classroom observations helped me to see whether their statements
in the interviews were reflected in their actual classroom behaviours and teaching because it is
easier said than done. Moreover, the classroom observations have helped me to find out what
actually happens in a given situation. Otherwise, I would have been compelled to believe in
whatever the research participants stated in the interviews. It indeed was a good research tool
to establish and maintain the validity and reliability of my research.
3.5.3 Policy and other relevant documents
I also included a documentary analysis to see how the school’s policy and vision support the
teachers in teaching children with autistic spectrum disorder. Along with the information
gathered from interviews and the classroom observations, the documents mainly consisting of
the Special Educational Needs policy and Individualized Education Plan were studied to
gather in-depth information about the phenomenon studied. Although these documents were
not developed to specifically address the needs of autistic children in school, yet they were
useful as it was an unobtrusive way of collecting data and the information thus obtained
proved useful for the study to substantiate and triangulate the data gathered from the different
sources.
3.6 Reliability and Validity
Reliability, i.e. the degree of accuracy and comprehensiveness of coverage of the case in this
study was achieved through a process of ‘triangulation’ of data collected from different
sources such as the interviews, classroom observation, and school documents. Triangulation
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provided the opportunity to compare data from different sources on the same issue and thus
helped in maintaining the reliability of this study (Cohen et al., 2006). In this study, data
gathered from one-on-one interviews with teacher participants, classroom observations, and
the documents such as the school policies, IEPs and sample lesson plans were triangulated to
make the final interpretation of the research findings.
To maintain the validity or the trustworthiness (Yeh & Inman, 2007) of this study, I actually
wanted to send my interview transcripts back to the research participants to seek clarification
and check if my interpretations of the interview statements matched with their intended
meanings. Robson (2002: 175) calls this process member checking and states that such a
practice demonstrates to the research subjects that the researcher values their perception and
contributions besides guarding against researcher bias. However, due to time constraints and
my delay in getting the interviews transcribed on time, this could not be accomplished. Yet, I
have tried to be true to what the participants stated in the interviews and whatever is presented
in Chapter 4 as the results of this study are verbatim statements from the interviews. No
alterations have been made in their statements and as a researcher I have tried to suspend my
personal beliefs and views as far as possible to avoid any forms of bias in the interpretation of
the interviews.
3.7 Ethical issues
Any research involving human participants require researchers to observe some essential
ethical guidelines formulated by organizations such the British Educational Research
Association (BERA) and American Psychological Association (APA). For this study, I
referred and followed the Revised Ethical Guidelines for Educational Research (2004)
adopted by BERA to ensure that the study does not breach any of the ethics. A letter was sent
to the schools to get an informed consent8 of the participants. It provided the potential
participants of the study the overall purpose and the main features of the study and their role
in the course of the study (Moustakas, 1990:112; BERA, 2004: 6).
Pseudonyms were used to maintain the participants’ anonymity and even the name of the
school was not disclosed in the final report. No other people had access to the research
documents. All research documents, consisting mainly of recorded interviews and observation
notes have been destroyed upon the completion of the research.
8
See Appendix A for the consent letter.
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Chapter 4
Data Analysis and Findings of the Study
4.1 Introduction
This chapter presents the data analysis and findings of the study. It draws together the data
gathered through different research tools namely the interviews, the classroom observations
and the analysis of the SEN policy documents.
Several techniques have been proposed for analysing case study data. For this study, I used
‘thematic coding’ where the data collected was coded based on the categories and themes
germane to the case under examination. The different themes that emerged from the data were
further broken down into sub-themes or units for further analyses (Denscombe, 2003).
Number coding was used to differentiate the different themes identified for easy reference in
the final analysis and interpretation.
To find how the teachers in the mainstream primary school teach social skills to children with
autistic spectrum disorder, this study set out to generate responses to the following questions:
1. What strategies do the teachers in mainstream primary school classroom use to teach
social skills to children with ASD?
2. What kinds of support are available in teaching children with autism spectrum
disorder in the mainstream primary school?
3. What are the challenges faced by teachers in teaching social skills to children with
autism in a mainstream primary school?
Hence, the responses generated through the interviews, classroom observations and document
analysis of the SEN policy of the schools have been presented in the following section.
4.2.1 The interviews
Eight professionals were involved in this study. They consisted of mainstream school
teachers, special education teachers teaching in a resource base or a special unit attached to a
school, resource base managers, and a teaching assistant. Figure 1 shows the diagrammatic
representation of the participants’ experience in general teaching, teaching of SEN children
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and experience of teaching autistic children. The meanings of the different abbreviations used
are given at the footnote of this page9.
Figure 1
Teaching experience
Teaching SEN
T2
T1
SC
-3
T3
SC
-2
ha
r
-c
In
R
B
SC
-3
ge
d
T2
H
ea
t.
As
s
SC
-2
SC
-1
T1
Teaching ASD children
SC
-2
SC
-1
R
BM
18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
SC
-1
Teaching Experience in Years
Participants' Teaching Experience
Participants
Though not all the participants were involved in teaching at the time of this study, everyone
had done some teaching at some point of time. The teaching experience of the participants in
general ranged from 2 years to 16 years being the maximum. Interestingly, the person who
had 16 years of teaching experience was a teaching assistant and had being involved in
teaching children with autism for 16 years. While the participants had a diverse range of
teaching experience, not many had a specific training in teaching children with autism. But
some of them did possess the experience of teaching SEN children in general as reflected in
the figure. The professional and academic qualification of the participants ranged from
Bachelors Degree of Education to Masters Degree of Education.
I visited the three schools and interviewed the research participants at different times spread
over a period of about four weeks. Each interview lasted for about 30-45 minutes. As I read
through the interviews, the following themes emerged.
4.2.2 Teaching strategies used in teaching social skills to children with autistic spectrum
disorder
Introduction
The participants of this study were very cooperative in sharing their experience of using
different strategies in teaching social skills to children with autism. It was interesting to note
the differences in the teachers’ respondes to this particular question. On the whole, the
teachers and professionals from the special units or the resource base who taught children
9
SC- School; T- Teacher; RBM- Resource Base Manager. The numbers following the letters have been used for the
convenience of identifying the participants.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
with autism had more ideas to share than the mainstream school teachers who dealt with
autistic children only occasionally during the inclusion classes10.
Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS), Treatment and Education of Autistic and
related Communication handicapped Children (TEACCH), and Visual Timetables featured as
the dominant teaching strategies used by majority of the participants. Social stories and
socially speaking, life skills programs, play method and a variety of other interactive
strategies were some other strategies used for teaching social skills to children with autism.
4.2.3 Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS)
All teacher participants referred to PECS as one of the most commonly followed teaching
strategy used in teaching social skills to children with autism. The Resource Base Coordinator
of School 1 who managed the daily operations of the Resource Base in this school said that
the teachers in her unit use PECS a lot in their teaching. She said,
All of our teachers are PECS trained teachers except Cindy (name changed), who has
joined us recently. …It is a very structured way of teaching social and communication
skills based on applied behaviour analysis (ABA) approach.
This same statement was reiterated by another teacher who said,
PECS is very important and some teaching assistants have training on PECS and that’s
a bonus for them and we strive to train all our teachers on PECS (Teacher 1 School 1).
The other teachers other schools also supported the use of PECS in their teaching. Two
teachers from School 2 reported that PECS has proven very helpful in teaching social skills to
children with autism. They opined,
PECS is very good and children respond very well when we use these strategies or
approaches. The fact that PECS is based on visual cues works very well with the type of
children we have in the base (Resource Base Manager, School 2).
PECS is easy to use and it make learning very easy for the children and does help the
children pick up language in a very interactive process of teaching where children and
the teacher uses a lot of visuals and talking. It makes teaching very interactive where
the teacher and the child are always in some form of conversation or a dialogue
(Teacher 2, School2).
10
Inclusion classes are referred to those classes of lessons where the children with autism attend classes with the
mainstream school children.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
These statements demonstrates that PECS is used as one of the primary teaching strategies
used by teachers in teaching social skills to children with autism. The fact that PECS involves
using a lot of visual, interactive teaching and learning processes where the children are
constantly engaged in some forms of social interactions appeared to be the reasons why the
teachers found PECS effective in teaching autistic children.
4.2.4 Treatment and Education of Autistic and related Communication handicapped
Children (TEACCH)
Like PECS, TEACCH was another teaching strategy that was followed by teachers in school.
Two participants cited the use of TEACCH as an appropriate teaching strategy for teaching
social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder. They alluded to the following points
to explain the effectiveness of using TEACCH.

TEACCH suits the needs of our children.

It involves doing the task in small chunks that has a definite start and definite finish to
the work.

The child knows exactly what to do and the teacher has no failure in it.
Two other teachers further added,

TEACCH has activities which are structured and arranged in order of progression
which is very ideal for children with autistic spectrum disorder (Resource Base Incharge, School 2).

…over the years we have noted the children progressing well with the use of PECS and
TEACCH (Teacher 1, School 2).
Conversely, the teachers in the mainstream school did not mention anything about the use of
PECS nor TEACCH in their classes although they had to teach an autistic child in their
classes.
4.2.5 Visual timetables
In addition to PECS and TEACCH, the research participants mentioned of visual timetables
as another common teaching strategy used for teaching social skills to children with autism.
The participants reported that the visual cues used by teachers in their teaching assists
children with autism in initiating verbal communication. For instance, the Resource Base
Coordinator of School 1 stated,
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Visual timetable is used by our teachers almost everyday in their teaching. Because a
child with autism has difficulty in their speech and communication, the visual timetables
serve as a catalyst in generating speech and language usage through the visual cues.
This same claim was echoed in the statements made by two other teacher participants. They
contented,

Children with autism function on a very high level of systems meaning that they need
systems in place to operate their mind. That’s why we have the visual time-tables which
clearly show what they need to do at different stages of the lesson (Teacher 1, School 1).

We do use a lot of visuals in our teaching. It may not necessarily involve verbal
conversation but requires a lot of visual contact or eye contact which is one of the
prerequisite for verbal exchanges or use of language and speech (Teacher 2, School 2).
Likewise, another participant supported the use of visual timetables and she stated,
I also use visual timetables with my children in teaching them social skills. I also
encourage my teachers at the Base to use visual timetables in their daily teaching
because it really helps in teaching these children with autism (Resource Base In-charge,
School 2).
It becomes apparent that this particular participant not only use visual timetables in her own
teaching but has even encouraged and recommended the use of visual timetables to the other
tteachers in school. This confirms that visual timetables are as effective as PECS in teaching
children with autism.
4.2.6 Social stories
Social stories featured as another teaching strategy used by the teacher participants. Three
participants mentioned using social stories in their teaching and expressed very similar
opinions. They stated that social stories,

help our children in learning social skills which are so useful in their daily lives.

helps them to see and understand the social values of life which can be very handy in
adjusting to life situations later in life.

has been working very well especially in teaching the children social skills and values of
respect, which are fundamental and basic in relating with others in life.
It is interesting to see that the teachers not only shares commonalities in their practice of
teaching strategies but also shared opinions which are very similar.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
While these participants mutually agreed and supported the use of social stories in teaching
autistic children, there was another teacher who went a step further in explaining that a
teacher can be using a number of strategies in one single lesson. This was how she explained,
Social stories is one common strategy we use in our teaching but sometimes, it is
difficult to really say that one strategy is used more often than others. Most often, we
tend to use a combination of teaching strategies because the different strategies overlap
with one another in its practice. I mean they compliment with one another (Resource
Base IN-charge, School 2).
This participant raises a very important point here. Her submission on the possibility of using
a combination of strategies in teaching establishes that the strategies most often work
mutually in support of each other.
4.2.7 Other strategies
In addition to the strategies cited in the preceding section, some other strategies such as
socially speaking, play method, modelling appropriate behaviours and using reinforcement,
life skills programs, ‘Transporters’ DVD, talking partners or buddy systems, Inclusion Club,
and Circle Time. These strategies featured less frequently than the strategies presented earlier.
For instance, only one participant spoke of socially speaking as the strategy used for teaching
social skills to children with autism. She said,
We also use socially speaking which tend to be very good with older children and the
speech therapist also tend to use that during speech time in small groups almost like a
social skills group (Teacher 2, School 1).
It appeared that the children need to have some language competency to use socially speaking
as a teaching strategy for teaching social skills to children with autism in school as manifested
in this statement.
One teacher was of the opinion that play method is an appropriate strategy for teaching
children in the lower primary classes. She stated,
In year one, we focus lot of play. Children work together and play together. They
share and support one another in doing lots of hands-on learning activities, lots of
painting, lots of coloring, and lots of talking (Inclusion Manager/Assistant Head
Teacher, School 2).
She further reasoned out saying that,
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
We use play activities most of the time because their concentration is very low.
Moreover, when the learning is playful, it makes it easier for the teacher to make the
children understand the lesson.
This teacher taught in a mainstream class where she had to teach children with autism with
the support of Learning Support Assistants from the resource base.
According to one teacher, modelling of appropriate behaviours and using reinforcement was
an effective strategy. This teacher alleged,
The best way to teach children with ASD is modeling appropriate behaviour and using
reinforcements to teach social skills. It works really well. Sometimes, we use social
stories on how they should behave (Teacher 1, School 2).
This same participant mentioned the use other strategies but appeared to favour the use of
modelling and reinforcement over the other strategies.
In School 1, life skills program was used as a strategy for teaching social skills to the children
with autism in the resource base. It was a very comprehensive program and the Manager of
the Resource Base reported,
We have got a life skills policy which are specifically focused in developing selfrecognition, self-awareness, and awareness of other pupils as well. For instance, getting
around in the town and what we can get in the town, or visiting a super market using the
bus for learning mobility and use of transports, visit to a river to teach them about the
importance of safety related issues around water and going to different kinds of
environment.
We are addressing social and life skills all the time but these are some activities which
are specifically designed for the children at the Base, because we see a particular value
in having these activities for this group of children [children with ASD].
Whereas the participant mentioned this program as part of the strategy for teaching social
skills to children with autism in the Resource Base, most of the activities of this program
occurred outside the classroom teaching.
The same participant referred to a new and an interesting teaching strategy called the
‘Transporters’ DVD which consists of hands-on activities with cartoon characters for teaching
social skills to children with autism. She said,
…to help these children empathize and understand that not everybody got the same
thing that goes in their head, we use ‘Transporters’ DVD. It is a new series based on
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
transport characters; it is a sort of cartoon thing but they also have human faces and
also the trains.
She further added,
…it has been found to be particularly good for children with autism and we use that as
part of our personal, social and health education lessons and is very good for
understanding how other people are feeling or how other people might react in certain
situation.
In one school, which had children with autism attached to a Resource Base, the Resource
Base In-charge mentioned a number of other interesting strategies which appeared quite
different from other teaching strategies. She pointed,
There is quite a high level of approaches used in the mainstream classes like the talking
partners and buddy systems and that works very well. These arrangements helps them to
gain some confidence in interacting and talking appropriately not just in the classroom
or in school but also in their daily lives with people around.
In addition to this talking partners or buddy systems, this particular school had also started
Inclusion Club, in which autistic children can invite different friends for a variety of
cooperative games that facilitates social interactions. The participant stated,
We also have started an Inclusion Club in the school because our children come to
school by bus and unfortunately they cannot go to after-school clubs because it makes
transport arrangements difficult. So, we decided to do our own club during lunch hour
where they can invite their friends from the mainstream classes to do cooking,
parachute games, or all sorts of cooperative games and activities. And they have to
invite different friend every week so they get to know and interact with different people
as far as possible and this practice has been going very well so far.
While the talking partners/buddy systems and the activities of the Inclusion Club though
occurred outside the classroom away from the teaching context, yet they appeared to be an
interesting and an exciting strategy worth trying even within the classroom and with other
children in a mainstream setting.
One of the teacher participants from School 3 referred to the use of Circle Time in her class
but also admitted that she mostly relies on the Learning Support Assistant in attending the
needs of the autistic child her class. She admitted,
I often use Circle Time where children can learn some social values and give proper
regard to one another especially for a child with autism. But to be perfectly honest, I
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
haven’t really used that many. We had a Learning Support Assistant who mostly worked
with this child [autistic child] and I left for her to work with him (Teacher 2, School 3).
At another instant, this same teacher reported using some kind of common sense strategy
depending on the response and the reaction of the child. She stated,
I encourage all the children to take part actively in the class including the children with
ASD but also make sure that I do not push him [autistic child] when he does not want to
because I noticed that he found it so stressful when I did it once. So this is one strategy
that I have been using with him.
The participant recognized the importance of understanding the emotional state of the child at
a particular moment and then uses teaching strategies depending on the child’s state of
emotions and needs.
Conclusion
By looking at the types of teaching strategies cited by the participants, it becomes evident that
the teachers involved in this study use a wide range of teaching strategies to teach social skills
to children with autistic spectrum disorder. However, it has to be remembered that there is no
one particular strategy that suit the needs of an individual child perfectly as submitted by one
of the participants.
It is very difficult to find one effective strategy to teach these children because every one
of them is very different. There can be so many strategies from which we can pick up
one that suits the different children in their own ways because children with autism are
very different. For some of them, it could be the eye contact that can be very effective
but may not necessarily be the same with other children.
Thus, the different strategies mentioned by the research participants have to be understood as
one whole package instead of looking at them as separate entities. They compliment each
other and are mostly used in combination with a number of other strategies.
4.3 Support for teachers in teaching social skills to children autism
Introduction
My second research question attempted to look at the kinds of support that the mainstream
school teachers receive in teaching social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder.
The responses generated in response to this particular research question provided a deeper
insight of different kinds of support teachers receive in teaching social skills to children with
autistic spectrum disorder.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
According to the participants, the support of the language and speech therapist and the
professional development and training programs the teachers attend within and outside the
school were the two main support services available in school. The positive attitudes of other
mainstream school children and their parents, the school ethos, and allocation of separate
budget for SEN programs in school were also identified by the participants as some other
support services that facilitate teachers teaching children with autism.
4.3.1 Support of the language and speech therapist
All the participants of this study cited the support of the language and speech therapist as very
important in helping them teach social skills to children with autism. In emphasizing the
crucial role of the speech therapist, the participants maintained,
Cindy (name changed), who is a speech and language therapist is of great help in
providing any kinds of professional support and assistance to our teachers in teaching
children with autism spectrum disorder. We have been able to get her just about a year
ago and I personally believe that her expertise is the greatest support we can have in
school especially in teaching children with autism (Resource Base Manager, School 1).
Another participant said,
Well, we have got on site, a speech and language therapist and she is in four days a
week. She helps the teachers in their professional development and currently she is
helping the teachers in their Makaton training [the use of sign language]. She also
works with the children on their speech targets on an average of half an hour with every
individual child in a week. She also sets her targets for children and informs the class
teachers so that within the classroom whenever appropriate we can use those targets to
support their learning. Cindy is indeed a very good source of support for us (Inclusion
Manager/Assistant Head Teacher, School 2).
One teacher had a very high regard for the support she received from the speech therapist. She
explained,
From the school as such, I have not done any kind of specific training [in teaching
children with ASD] as such but my interaction with the language and speech therapist
whenever she is here becomes part of training in teaching such children with learning
difficulties. She is of great help in my classroom teaching (Teacher 1, School 3).
As indicated by these statements, it is apparent that the language and speech therapist does
play a very significant role in the provision of the necessary professional support for teachers
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
in teaching children with ASD. Likewise, all other participants acknowledged the support of
the language and speech therapist as a useful help in helping children cope with their social
skills.
4.3.2 Professional development and training
The professional development programs and training sessions offered in school were helpful
in ensuring that the teachers are updated on the recent educational trends and more
particularly in teaching children with autistic spectrum disorder. It was discovered that
professional development and training programs were considered as very important by many
participants. The following excerpts were taken from the interviews.
…we do invest a lot in professional development and I think that is very important to
keep our teachers informed about the recent developments in teaching because things
change so fast… Most of our teachers have CACHE (Council for Awards in Children’s
Education) training, which is training on basic child psychology and child care which is
really useful for us (Resource Base Manager, School 1).
Initiating and conducting training programs for teachers to train them specifically in
handling inclusive classrooms is an important part of my job. I do INSET training for
the whole school where the teachers from the mainstream classes are involved….The
nature of the training depends on the needs of the teachers and most often, it works out
once every half term for the other teachers and twice for the teachers at the base
(Resource Base In-charge, School 2).
The professional development training we have in place to train teachers both at the
base and the mainstream classes can also be considered as a kind of support (Teacher
1, School 2).
Professional development and training programs conducted by the school as part of INSET
programs in school and the refresher courses and training workshops offered by the council
were considered as a good source of support by all the participants.
Within the professional development and training programs, one particular participant
expressed her inclination in attending professional development and training programs in a
team rather than attending individually. She expressed,
…if you go and attend training as a whole group, you all go to the same training and
you all come back with the same buzz and you all have the same motivation to try out
the new idea at the same time. So, we do wherever possible, use our in-service training
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
days to attend and act as a team to professionally develop ourselves. It is produces
faster and greater impact on change when you attend trainings together as a team than
doing it individually (Resource Base Manager, School 1).
This participant preferred and valued a team approach in in-service training of teachers and
suggested that it is easier to initiate change and development when everybody thinks and acts
at the same pace at the same time.
Whilst many teachers recognized the benefit of the professional development and training
services, there were some concerns expressed about the need to expedite and improve these
supports. The participants stated,

The last professional development course that I have attended was two years ago and
sometimes I do feel stale when I have not been for such refresher courses for long.
(Teacher 2, School 1).

We have access to courses provided by the council and if a specific course on SEN came
up, I would definitely benefit from such courses and training (Teacher 1, School 3).

May be, getting more resources and more training for all teachers in teaching and
handling autistic children can be very helpful (Teacher 1, School 3).
These statements suggests for the provision of more resources and training opportunities that
are specific to handle specific SEN children so that the teachers feel better prepared to teach
children with autism.
4.3.3 Attitudes of other mainstream school teachers, students, and parents
The positive attitudes of other mainstream school teachers, the welcoming attitudes of
mainstream students, and the support of the parents of other children towards the inclusion of
children with autism in a mainstream setting was viewed as a positive support. Seven
participants viewed this support as a very strong support which provided them with a very
positive working environment.
For instance, one participant even attributed the success of inclusion programs in the school to
the unconditional support of the parents of other non-disabled children. She said,
The parents of other children are also very supportive and because they have been so
understanding about the children with autism and because of such positive support we
have from all sides, we have been so successful (Resource Base Manager, School 1).
The same participant further remarked,
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
The other positive thing is that the mainstream teachers receive them very positively in
the mainstream classes and even the other children in the mainstream school or classes
know and understand the needs of our children in Treetops and interact very well with
one another
In the same way, another participant from a different school referred to the positive support of
the children as very encouraging. She opined,
Generally, we have found that the children in the mainstream classroom are
supportive… They do not really see each other as being separate because they spend
most of their school time together because of this integration policy (Teacher 1, School
2).
Talking about the positive support the school received from the parents in general, this same
participant stated,
The parents of other children also understand the needs and behavioural problems of
children with autism. For instance if a child with autism hits another child in a
playground and the case is reported to the child’s parents, the parents are very
considerate and do support the school in making the school a very welcoming place for
children with SEN.
The participants believed that such positive support from all teachers, children and children’s
parents contribute in developing a ‘school ethos’ which was made the school a welcoming
place for children with autism and other disabled children.
But on the contrary, in one school one of the teachers did not see the children very supportive
towards the autistic child she had in her class. She submitted,
Actually, this school is not really a good place for him to develop well because the
children here are sometimes very inconsiderate of the presence of such children with
autism. Moreover, this school is so big and sometimes, the needs of children with SEN
can be left out and is not really an ideal setting for him (Teacher 2, School 3).
Her observation and experience was something different from others but the other teacher
participant from the same school did not make any such comments.
Related to this, one participant suggested that there is a need to educate the other mainstream
student sin the school to ensure that they understand the special needs of children with autism
and other SEN children.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
But specifically talking in terms of the need for further improvement within the school, I
think that the children in the mainstream school setting need to be educated on the
needs of these children with learning difficulties and not to baby SEN children by saying
things like I will do this and that for you. This is the support we are lacking at the
moment, however not to discount the fact that they have been so supportive all this while
(Resource Base In-charge, School 2).
The participant here acknowledged and appreciated the support of the mainstream students in
giving the necessary support and the company the autistic children required in school.
However, this participant seemed concerned that mainstream students’ lack of knowledge
about the needs of ASD children in general could be a deterrent in the long run. She felt that
the children at the base might develop a kind of dependency on the mainstream students in the
long run.
4.3.4 Other support services
In addition to all these supports, a few participants also mentioned the following facilities as
part of the support services available to them for teaching children with autism. They are,

budgetary support for SEN programs in school such as procurement of materials and
to support professional development and training programs;

leadership and professional support of the Resource Base Manager or In-charge; and

administrative support of the SENCO in school.
Conclusion
In summary, we see that there is a range of support services available in the school. The
support of the language and speech therapist, professional development and training
programs, and the positive attitudes of other personnel in school featured much more
prominently than others. Budgetary support, support of the Resource Base Manager or Incharge, and the support of the SENCO were also mentioned as some other supporting
conditions which helps them in teaching children with autism. However, the presence of these
supporting conditions does not eliminate the problems and challenges associated with
teaching children with autism.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
4.4 Challenges of teaching children social skills to children with autism
Introduction
The participants of this study cited some of the challenges associated to teaching children
with autism despite a number of support facilities available to them. The challenges primarily
consisted of inflexibility and rigidity of thinking in children with autism, inadequacy of
resources and funding, limited time and space.
4.4.1 Rigid and inflexible thinking
Six participants pointed out the rigid and inflexible thinking styles of children with autism as
one of the most pressing challenges in teaching social skills. The participants explained that
this rigid and inflexible thinking becomes the lead cause of most challenging behaviours in
children with autism, which makes it difficult for the teachers to handle. They said,

This inflexibility of thinking is a serious obstacle in making them feel included in the
school.

These children face a lot of difficulty in adjusting to the new environment in the school.

They are not able to cope with the situation in the mainstream environment. It is harder
on the children on this spectrum; it is harder on the teacher and is harder on every child
in that classroom. Everybody suffers and it is horrendous.

Sometimes, it becomes so difficult to deal with the behaviour of these children because
they see things and do things in the way they see and think. They become so wild and
aggressive over a very simple problem.
It is obvious that the rigidity of thinking is not just a challenge for the teachers teaching social
skills to children with autism but it also becomes a hurdle for the social adjustment of children
with autism themselves.
4.4.2 Time
Time constraint was another challenge. The participants expressed their concern in having to
spend a great deal of their time in the lesson with ASD children. Two teachers explained their
reasons for finding difficulty in managing the time in their teaching as cited below.

One really needs to have time and patience to teaching social skills to children with
ASD. With ASD children, language has to be broken into small bits and chunks so that
the child can process the key elements in the language used. Thus time definitely is a
challenge (Teacher 2, School 1).
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school

Having to differentiate our teaching to fit the needs of children with SEN children is a
challenge because the lesson plan that is planned for other children in the mainstream
class does not work for children with SEN. For instance, we have to do this within a
limited time. We do not get an extra time to teach children with autism spectrum
disorder in a class (Teacher 1, School 2).
In addition to this, the Resource Base In-charge of School 2 added,
I think getting to know them well and to getting to know their interests within a limited
time frame (when they are in the mainstream classes) could be a difficulty.
So, it is clear that time is a challenge for teachers in teaching children with autistic spectrum
disorder given their barriers in language and communication skills.
4.4.3 Resource
Although resources did not feature very prominently as a challenge, three participants did
consider resource as a challenge sometimes. Two of these participants described resources
and funding as a challenge and said,

Resources and funding is always an issue and a problem (Resource Base Manager,
School 1).

Resource is an issue and there is so much you need (Teacher 2, School 1).
The other two challenges were related to the size of the classroom and space of the school.
The participants pointed,

One of the biggest resources we don’t have in this school is space.

Some of our classrooms are very tiny lacking in space and restricting children’s
movement.
Conclusion
It is thus clear that despite a number of support services available in the school, yet there are a
few problems that challenge the teachers in accomplishing their task. The problems associated
with inadequate resources, time pressure, and the lack of adequate classroom space which
restricts children free movement in the class were pointed as some of the challenges that
obstructs meaningful teaching and learning.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
Thus, this was result of the data analysis gathered from the interviews with the eight research
participants. To further validate the outcomes of these interviews, I carried out two classroom
observations, the results of which are presented in the following section.
4.4 Analysis of the Observations
Introduction
The main purpose of the observation was to see whether what the teachers stated during the
interviews and the school’s SEN policy are translated into their actual instructional and
classroom management strategies. The observations were basically focused on social
interaction involving the child with autistic spectrum disorder. The general classroom
environment was also taken into account while making these classroom observations. For
instance, the position of the teachers and the teaching assistants in relation to the autistic
child, the physical structures of the classroom and the school on the whole and the
accessibility of the other basic facilities which could possibly have a bearing on the teaching
and overall well-being of children with ASD were all noted very carefully.
Given the time constraints and other procedural complications, I could do only two
observations altogether. A brief introduction of the context of these observations might help
in getting a better perspective and understanding of the results of the observations. The table
below shows the details of the two observations.
Items
Class Level
Lesson
Number of
Number
Number of
Topic
Children
Autistic
Teachers
Remarks
Children
School 2
Resource
Literacy and
10 (all had
3 autistic
2 regular
There was a
(Obs. 1)
Base (Had
Numeracy
learning
children
teachers + 2
new child
Teaching
attending her
Assistants
first day of
children of
difficulties)
different
levels)
School 3
Year 5
school
Geometry
19 students
1 autistic
child
(Obs. 2)
1 regular
The Learning
teacher + 1
Support
Learning
Assistant
Support
attended to
Assistants
the autistic
child all the
time.
Note:
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
Both the observations were made for 45 minutes to maintain the uniformity of observation.

School 2 had a Resource Base Unit attached to the school. School 3 did not have this facility.
The results of these observations have been divided into three main broad themes - the
teaching strategies used by the teacher (s); the social interaction in the process of teaching;
and the general classroom atmosphere.
4.4.1 Teaching strategies
I have noted a striking difference in the use of teaching strategies in the two schools. In
School 2, the teacher facilitated the different activities of the lesson instead of teaching
children through verbal instructions. The class activities took place in different groups with
each teacher attending to one single group. Every activity in the lesson was so well structured
and organized that there was a very smooth transition from one activity to another without
much waste of time.
The teachers used a lot of visuals and concrete objects and materials for teaching. The
children participated in the activities with lot of enthusiasm. The teachers used of
reinforcement and punishment to encourage positive student behaviour.
On the day of the observation in School 2, one child with autistic disorder was attending her
first day of school. This provided me with an insight on how teachers dealt with children’s
challenging behaviours. Although the child’s behaviour was so disruptive and violent, yet the
teachers appeared prepared to handle such a challenge. They knew that it would be hard for
the child to adjust to the new environment. I observed that the teachers were doing everything
possible to make the classroom atmosphere as friendly as possible for this new child. For
instance, it appeared that the children in the class had already been instructed to be friendly
with the new child before her arrival. I noticed the other children greeting the new child by
calling her name whenever they walked in or walked out of the classroom. The teachers were
confident and firm in dealing with the child’s behaviour that they finally succeeded in getting
the child to participate in the learning activities.
On the contrary, the observation in School 3 presented a very different picture. The teacher in
School 3 used a lot of verbal instructions with a few learning activities. During the activity
time, the students worked on a worksheet where they had to identify and name the different
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geometrical shapes given in the worksheet. Otherwise, the teacher mostly used the digital
board for teaching and used online teaching materials to explain the concept of the different
shapes. In one of the learning activities, the teacher called some students in turn to come in
front of the classroom to solve a problem on the board. The students appeared excited during
this activity time and participated actively in this activity time. However, the child with
autism did not get this opportunity to go in front and solve a problem on the board.
Overall, I personally found her teaching more teacher centred because it was dominated
largely by the instructions from the teacher’s side. In addition, I did not really observe her
doing anything in particular to address the learning needs of the child with ASD. Instead, his
learning needs were left at the hands of the Learning Support Assistant who was seated next
to him.
4.4.2 Social interaction
The observation on the level of social interaction was specially focused in seeing how the
teacher engaged the child with autism socially in the class to facilitate the development of
social and communication skills. And this was the key focus of this research study.
The lesson in School 2 was a highly interactive lesson characterised by learning activities
which engaged the children and the teachers in different forms of interaction with one
another. The lesson provided every child with the opportunity to interact with one another and
the teacher facilitated the learning activities very well. I observed a highly interactive lesson
where the teacher actively initiated and facilitated conversations with children at every stage
of a lesson. There was hardly a moment in the lesson where the teachers and children did not
engage in a social interaction and verbal exchanges. I observed the teachers in this class using
very good eye contact in their interaction with the children. Every time a teacher talks to a
child, a teacher would first say, “Sarah, look, look at me” and then only talk to the child after
ensuring that the child is looking at the teacher. Eye contact in fact was being used as the
primary element of beginning a social interaction.
Again, during this observation in School 2, I was also fortunate enough to observe the “fruit
time” the children had in the resource base. This added an extra dimension to my observation
in this school. The “fruit time” was another session which created a situation or an
environment where the teachers and children interact at a personal one-to-one level. This also
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taught the children to practice social skills like turn-taking and social etiquettes such as
making requests and thanking people.
On the contrary, the level of interaction in the lesson observed in School 3 was not as
interactive as that of School 2. In School 3, the interaction in the class was mostly one-side
where the teacher was engaged in giving verbal instructions to the class as a whole.
The only time the students could interact socially with the teacher was when they wanted to
respond to the teacher’s questions. Listening to the teacher’s verbal explanation and
responding to her questions were the only mode of interaction in this class. There wasn’t any
activity in the lesson where the children could discuss things together and interact with one
another.
The interaction of the child with autism was limited given his deficits of social and
communication skills. In one whole lesson, this child spoke two times in response to the
question that the teacher asked. But I observed this child talking occasionally to the child next
to him and the Learning Support Assistant who was seated next to him. Although the verbal
interaction of this child with the teacher and rest of the children was so limited, yet he
exhibited other forms of interactions in the form listening and attending to the teacher’s
instructions, and looking at other children visually when they spoke.
On the whole, this lesson was a teacher dominated and teacher-centred lesson. The
opportunities for children to socially interact and learn collaboratively were little and few.
The child with autism appeared isolated and left out most of the time. The teacher admitted
during the post lesson discussion that she does not do much but leave the child to be attend by
the LSA who is always there for his support.
Finally, to sum up the results of the observations made on the level of social interactions in
these two different observations, it is graphically represented in the figure below.
Figure 2
Frequency of interaction
Social interactions observed in Observations 1 & 2
The teacher speaks to the
whole class
60
The teacher speaks to the
autistic child
50
The autistic child responds ot
the whole class
40
The autistic child looks at the
teacher
30
20
The autistic child responds to
the teacher
10
The autistic child talks to
another child
0
School 2
School 3
Types of interaction
Another child talks to the
autistic child
The TA talks to the aurtistic
child
The autistic child talks to the TA
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The figures in the graph clearly show the level of different types of interactions in the
observations carried out in the two schools. The interactions noted in the observation in
School 2 has a very good frequency of the use of different types of interactions as explained
earlier.
4.4.3 Classroom atmosphere
Although the classroom atmosphere in both the classes observed appeared friendly and
welcoming to the children, there were some differences in the overall quality of the classroom
environment.
The teachers in School 2 dealt with children by maintaining a very good level of proximity
with children and their body language demonstrated the care and concern they had in teaching
the children in the class. For instance, whenever they saw a child not being attentive, they
would go near the child and speak to the politely as “John (name changed), are you alright?
Please listen to me when I say something. Otherwise, I will be forced to send you to the grey
corner11”. Even when the teachers had to remind the children of their behaviour which
appeared distracting at times, they did it in a very friendly and caring way adding to the
friendliness of the overall classroom atmosphere. I did not observe these skills being used in
the observation in School 3. Instead, she stood in front of the class most of the time which
created some kind of a social distance between the teacher and the students in the class.
Further, the classroom displays and the way things were arranged in the classroom at School 2
seemed more inviting and stimulating for the children than it was done in School 3. The
classroom in School 2 had an assortment of classroom displays such as models and learning
materials developed by children themselves whereas the School 3 classroom appeared a bit
plain and empty without much displays.
Overall, I found the atmosphere at School 2 more open and welcoming than School 3. School
3 appeared more enclosed in a huge Victorian building with very narrow staircases and
pathways compared to School 2 which was housed in a one storey building with lot of open
spaces around the school.
11
The ‘grey corner’ was used as a place for those children who misbehaved.
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Conclusion
In conclusion, the results of the classroom observations showed that the teachers teaching
autistic children in a special setting were fond of using more visual materials that engaged the
children in a more interactive classroom environment than those teachers teaching in a
mainstream classroom. The children attending classes in a special SEN setting were able to
enjoy more teacher attention and had more opportunities of learning through more
collaborative and interactive approaches than the children in the mainstream setting.
On the whole, the classroom observations helped me in obtaining a deeper and a broader
perspective of the use of teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching children with autism.
It also provided an added dimension in looking at the level of social interaction, which is an
important element in socials development.
4.5 Analysis of the Policy documents
Introduction
The primary objective of using the policy documents as one of the sources of data was to see
if the school policies addressed the educational needs of children with autism with a particular
emphasis on the development of their social skills. Further, I was also interested in finding if
there were any kind of policy support for teachers teaching social skills to children with
autism in a mainstream school environment.
To do this, I referred the SEN policy documents of the three schools involved in this study
and this was what unfolded from the analysis of these documents.
4.5.1 SEN policy
The schools visited for this study did not have any specific or a separate policy addressing the
issues concerning the needs of children on the autistic continuum. However, since children
with autism spectrum disorder are children with special educational needs, the SEN policy of
a school could still serve as a god source of support for teachers of autistic children.
The SEN policy of all the three schools has cited an extract from Warnock Report of 1978,
highlighting the schools’ objective of becoming inclusive in the educational practice. The
extract stated that,
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‘The purpose of education for all children is the same: the goals are the same. But the
help that the individual children need in progressing towards them will be different.
Whereas for some the road they have to travel towards the goal is smooth and easy, for
others it is fraught with obstacles’ (Warnock, 1978).
In view of this, these schools claimed to be inclusive schools which aimed in enabling all
pupils with special educational needs or with other forms of disabilities the greatest possible
progress in all areas of development in life. Asserting their commitment for making the
school inclusive and welcoming to all kinds of pupils, the schools had well defined objectives
in making provisions for pupils with SEN. The SEN policy of the schools stated,

We value all pupils in our school equally.

We believe all pupils have an entitlement to a broad and balanced curriculum.

The aims of education for pupils with difficulties and disabilities are the same as those
for all pupils.

Every child is entitled to have his or her particular needs recognised and addressed.

To offer high quality support to ensure that all needs are met.

All pupils are entitled to experience success and is celebrated and shared by everyone.

All teachers are teachers of special educational needs.

Good special needs practice is good practice for all pupils.
The SEN policy documents of these schools outlined a very comprehensive list of objectives
for the provision of educational services for children with SEN and considered the education
of SEN children as a matter for the whole school.
4.5.2 Training and development of teachers
All schools had a practice of making an annual audit of training needs for all staff taking into
school priorities as well as personal development. The schools have a fixed annual budget
which could be used for the development or procurement of teaching learning resources or
training of teachers and other staff including the learning support assistants depending on the
priorities of the school.
For instance, the following commitments on training teachers and staffs involved in teaching
SEN children were reflected in the SEN policy documents of these schools.

Special needs are included in all school training. In addition, staffs attend training
organised by LEA and other agencies, e.g. universities.
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
The training of teachers will be accorded the highest priority in the development of
inclusive education practices.

LSAs will be trained and utilised to use ICT programs to create support materials for
pupils with SEN for classroom use e.g. pictorial word banks for topics.
This indicated that the schools acknowledged and recognised the need to train teachers for the
provision of quality education to all pupils and in achieving their goals of providing inclusive
education.
4.5.3 Individualised Education Plan (IEP)
The Individualised Education Plan (IEP) is another document which served as a support for
teachers in teaching children with special education needs. The SEN policy documents of the
schools mentioned clearly about the preparation and implementation of Individualised
Education Plans for all SEN children in school. One of the mandates of the school SEN policy
on the use of IEP stated,

All teachers have the responsibility for implementation of Individual Education Plans in
their classrooms advised by the SENCO.
The IEP helps in planning and delivering a differentiated programme especially for children
with special education needs, wherever necessary. Such a practice which requires the teachers
to use IEP in their teaching through the guidance of SENCO could be a very good way of
instituting inclusive teaching to achieve a broader goal of inclusive education.
4.5.4 The role of SENCO
The SENCO performs a very important role in the school in terms of providing the necessary
support required by teachers in teaching children with special needs. Their role mainly
centred around the provision of managerial and administrative responsibilities such as,

Over-seeing the day to day operation of the SEN policy.

Co-ordinating provision for pupils with special educational needs.

Liaising with and advising fellow teachers.

Managing learning support assistants.

Liaising with parents of pupils with special educational needs.

Liaising with external agencies such as the educational psychologist, school nurse,
speech and language therapists and other health services.

Contributing to the in-service training of staff.
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It is evident from this list of the SENCO’s responsibilities that the SENCO performs a very
special role in the school for the provision of SEN and could certainly be a very strong source
of support for teachers teaching children with autism.
4.5.5 Allocation of resources
Personally, I feel that the availability of a good resource support can the most fundamental
resource that a school should have for the successful implementation of any inclusive
education programs. The document analysis of the schools’ SEN policy indicated the
presence of resource support which had manifold benefits for the schools concerned. For
instance the SEN policy of the schools pointed,

The LEA provides the schools with a budget towards meeting pupils’ SEN.

The school plans and provides for pupils with SEN from their main budget.

The costs of the SENCO are set against the core or base of budget of the school.
Further, it also provided some direction on the possible areas of spending this money. It stated
that the schools could spend this money on:

Learning support assistants.

Training for all teachers and learning support assistants.

Special books and equipments.
In addition to this, the schools also receive additional funding for pupils with statements. The
documents also showed that the allocation of resources within the school is based on an
annual audit of need carried out during the summer term. The more complex or severe the
needs, the schools are entitled for more support.
Conclusion
The analysis of the SEN policy documents though not very specific to the educational
provision of children on the autistic spectrum continuum, yielded useful information on the
support networks available in addressing the needs of children with SEN in school. It is seen
that the schools do accord a high priority in addressing the concerns and needs of children
with special educational needs. There is a very clear direction on the provision of inclusive
education with clear guidelines for teachers to use differentiated instructional strategies with
well planned Individualised Education Plans (IEPs) in consultation with the SENCO. The
SENCO, in his or her capacity as the SEN Co-ordinator performs roles which could
immensely be of great support for teachers teaching autistic children. To ensure that the SEN
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programs in school run successfully, there is a good budgetary support for meeting the
expenses on training the teachers and staff, procurement of resource materials such as books
and equipments for SEN children and finally the remunerations for learning support
assistants.
Chapter summary
In this chapter, I have discussed the findings generated from the research interviews,
classroom observations, and document analysis. The discussion of the data analysis chapter
focused mainly on the teaching strategies used by teachers, the kinds of support available in
school, and the challenges involved in teaching social skills to children with autism.
The analysis of the data revealed that the teachers used a wide range of teaching strategies in
teaching children with autism. PECS, TEACCH, visual timetables and social stories emerged
as strategies most commonly used by teachers in teaching social skills to children with
autism. The data also showed that the teachers teaching children with autism at the Resource
Base in a SEN classroom were more knowledgeable than the mainstream teachers who taught
children with autism in a mainstream class. The type of teaching strategies followed by a few
mainstream school teachers and the level of social engagement of children with autism in a
mainstream class were seen as matter of concern. The results from the observations confirmed
this finding.
According to the information gathered from the research interviews and the analysis of the
SEN policy documents, it became clear that the teachers enjoyed a good level of support from
different sources. For instance, the school had a SEN policy which had clear directions on the
provision of high quality education for SEN pupils with differentiated curriculum and good
inclusive teaching practices. There was a good resource allocation ranging from budgetary
support for training teachers and learning support assistants, and the procurement of resource
materials which ensured that the SEN programs in school are implemented with success and
the needs of all SEN pupils are well addressed.
Although the teachers on the whole appeared to be doing a good job of teaching autistic
children assisted by a number of support services, there were some challenges which the
teachers found difficult at times. However, these challenges were very insignificant and did
not present any threat to their success in teaching children with autism.
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The next chapter will evaluate the information that has been presented in this chapter. An
attempt shall be made to compare the findings of this study against the existing literature and
finally try to answer the research questions that I asked at the beginning of this study.
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Chapter 5
Evaluation
5.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the data that has been analysed and presented in Chapter 4 will be examined
and evaluated against the literature reviewed in Chapter 2. An attempt has also been made to
evaluate the research outcomes by looking at the research context more critically. This
chapter is presented in three different parts namely the teaching strategies used for teaching
autistic children, kinds of support available to teachers, and the challenges that confronts
teachers teaching children with ASD. A summary of the discussion will then conclude the
chapter.
5.2 Teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching social skills to children with ASD
Introduction
The first research question of this study was focused in finding out the teaching strategies
used by mainstream primary school teachers in teaching social skills to children with autistic
spectrum disorder. The information gathered in response to this question is evaluated by
drawing in the data obtained from the research interviews, observations and document
analysis in relation to the literature reviewed.
PECS, TEACCH, visual timetables and social stories were some of the most common
teaching strategies used by the teachers to teach children with ASD in addition to a few other
strategies which emerged intermittently.
5.2.1 PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)
PECS was one of the teaching strategies that emerged prominently compared to other
strategies. The participants who used PECS in their teaching stated that PECS makes learning
very easy and helps children pick up language and communication skills in a very interactive
process through the use of visuals and talking. This is akin to the claims made by Magiati and
Howlin (2003), where they observed a significant improvement in children’s communication
skills after the use of PECS by teachers in schools across the UK. A number of other studies
also noted the same positive impact of PECS in the UK ever since its formal introduction
across school in 1998 (Baker, 2000; Baker and Webb, 1999; also see PECS UK at
http://www.pecs.org.uk).
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However, PECS was used more by teachers teaching autistic children in the SEN setting than
those teachers who taught children in the mainstream setting. I observed noticed evidences of
the use of PECS in their teaching through the classroom displays and the individualised
Education Plans (IEPs). Conversely, the teachers in the mainstream school hardly mentioned
of using PECS in their teaching. Neither did I observe PECS being used during my
observation of teaching in the school.
5.2.2 TEACCH (Teaching and Education of Autistic and Related Communication
Handicapped Children)
TEACCH was another teaching strategy that appeared commonly followed by teachers to
teach autistic children. Like PECS, they found TEACCH very effective in teaching children
with autistic spectrum disorder. The participants asserted with so much of certainty about the
effectiveness of the use of TEACCH and claimed that the ‘teacher has no failure to teach well
with TEACCH because the child knows exactly what to do’ (Teacher 1, School 1). The
popularity of TEACCH as a teaching strategy and its effectiveness was also noted by Aarons
and Gittens (1999) who maintained the extensive and successful use of TEACCH across the
schools in the UK. The authors also maintained that the National Autistic Society endorsed
TEACCH as a reliable and dependable strategy to be used by professionals in the field of
autistic disorders because of its successes in teaching social and communication skills to
autistic children.
Almost all the teachers in this study had used both TEACCH and PECS in their teaching and
were evident in the IEPs that they have used with every individual child with autism. The
effectiveness of PECS and TEACCH was demonstrated by one of the teachers during one of
my observations and I became convinced that these strategies are very appropriate for
teaching social skills not only to autistic children but to other mainstream students even. The
use of these strategies kept the children so engaged in an array of interactive learning
activities and do not even give them the time to misbehave.
5.2.3 Visual Timetable
My review of literature literally had nothing on the use of visual timetables. However, the
findings of this study revealed visual timetables as one of the strategies commonly used after
PECS and TEACCH. Especially, the teachers at the Resource Base especially seemed to have
used visual timetables in all their lessons and this was confirmed by one of the participants
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who said that the teachers in her school use visual timetables “every day of their teaching”.
The extent of the use of visual timetables was clearly manifested in the display of a large
collection of visual materials in the classroom walls. I also observed the use of visual
timetables in the observation that I made in one of the schools at a Resource Base. The use of
visual timetables and visual displays was not limited to classroom use. I saw lot of visual
works of children displayed along the corridors and hallways, which animated the entire
school environment.
Whilst PECS, TEACCH, and visual timetables have been successfully used for teaching at the
Resource Base in SEN teaching, this was hardly followed in the mainstream teaching. The
mainstream classroom especially in the upper primary classes, the visual displays and the
evidences of the use of these three teaching strategies were very low. Even the teaching that I
observed wasn’t very inclusive because the child with autism was left out from the class
discussion which contradicted to the SEN policy of the school which committed for a
provision of differentiated teaching to fulfil the needs of all SEN pupils.
5.2.4 Social Stories
‘Social stories’ was another teaching strategy that appeared to be a common practice amongst
the participants of this study. Social stories as a teaching strategy was found effective in
teaching children with autism because the teachers believed that it helped the children learn
social values and develop empathy. Further, the participants claimed that social stories taught
children with autism social values of life which are handy in adjusting to social situations in
life. To support this claim, one participant maintained,
Social stories have been working very well especially in teaching the children social
skills and values of respect, which are fundamental and basic in relating with others in
life.
This indicates that the social values children learn through this particular strategy could help
children with autism not just in their classroom learning but also in adjusting to different
situations in life.
5.2.5 Other strategies
The study also revealed the use of many other strategies such as the socially speaking, play
method, modeling appropriate behaviours through the use of reinforcement, life skills
programs, ‘Transporters’ DVD, talking partners or buddy systems, Inclusion Club and Circle
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Time. Although the participants mentioned the use of these different strategies in their
teaching, they shared a lot of similarities in practice. For instance, socially speaking and
modeling appropriate behaviours are both used in PECS as well as in TEACCH where the
teacher first picks up a picture or a visual object and then models to the child showing
“when”, “what” and “how” to speak either within a group or with a partner or the teacher. The
modeling of appropriate behaviours used to teach social skills to children with autism are also
a key element in the practice of Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) which is used widely in
behaviour modification programs (Kirk, Gallaghar & Anastasiow, 2000).
Further, the talking partners or the buddy systems which one of the schools in this study
practiced for teaching children with ASD in developing social and communication skills was
an excellent initiative. I liked this strategy better than many others as this allowed the children
to interact with peers of their age with similar interests. It provides a win-win situation where
the benefit of socialization is very mutual.
The ‘Transporters’ DVD which appears to be a new series of resource materials with cartoon
characters developed to teach social skills to children with language and speech difficulties
was an interesting discovery. There are countless other teaching strategies that can be used to
teach children with autistic spectrum disorder but what is important is to understand that there
is no “cookbook” or a “recipe” which prescribes one perfect strategy that can be used in
teaching social skills to children with autism (Welton et al, 2004). It is even be difficult to say
which strategy is more effective than the other as one participant clearly stated,
….it is difficult to really say that one strategy is used more often than others. Most often,
we tend to use a combination of teaching strategies because the different strategies
overlap with one another in its practice.
In view of this, it is impossible to really separate the use of one teaching strategy from another
strategy and argue that one is better than the other.
Although these strategies are mostly used for teaching children with autism, I feel that these
strategies could also be used effectively in teaching any other mainstream students especially
in the lower primary classes. In Bhutan, where the medium of instruction in school is English,
which is a second language for many, children in school could very well learn their
communication skills in English through the use of visual materials that PECS, TEACCH and
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many others teaching strategies which are used for teaching children with autism here in the
UK.
The SEN policy of the schools vouched for a school where ‘all teachers considered
themselves as teachers of SEN and worked with a belief that good special needs practice is
good practice for all pupils’. This was a very noble commitment for making education
inclusive. However, what one participant of this study stated was a complete contrast and a
challenge to what the SEN policy of the school advocated. She confessed,
But to be perfectly honest, I haven’t really used that many. We had a Learning Support
Assistant who mostly worked with this child [autistic child] and I left for her to work
with him.
My classroom observation of this teacher’s teaching confirmed her statement. This class was
a typical example of exclusion within an inclusive setting. The social involvement of the
autistic child in the general class discussion was very poor. The teacher also did not bother to
use any teaching strategies which engaged the child in any form of social interaction with
other students and the teacher herself. The way she has relegated or transferred the
responsibility of attending to the learning needs of this child in her class to the learning
support assistant without doing much on her own is a challenge to the success of the
principles of inclusive education. This in fact was a typical case of ‘integration’ instead of
‘inclusion’ because the teacher in this case expected the autistic child to adapt to her teaching
without any additional support other than the learning support assistant who was attending to
his needs (Batten, 2005).
Conclusion
In conclusion, the teachers in the schools use a variety of teaching strategies for teaching
social skills to children with autism. PECS, TEACCH, visual timetables, and social stories are
the most commonly followed teaching strategies besides the use of other strategies such as the
socially speaking, talking partners or buddy systems, ‘Transporters’ DVD, etc. Though
distinct in their names, these teaching strategies share a lot of similarities and compliment
each other in their actual use in the classroom. The fact that the teachers in the mainstream
classroom setting had lesser strategies to name for use in their teaching could probably be
attributed to their heavy dependence on the learning support assistants in the mainstream
class. Finally, the study revealed the need to monitor the mainstream classroom teaching
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practices to ensure that the needs of children with special educational needs are not left
unattended.
5.3 Kinds of support available for teachers
Introduction
While the analyses of the research interviews and policy documents of all three schools
revealed the availability of support for teachers in teaching general SEN children, the support
for teaching children with autism in particular was not found in all the three schools.
However, it was assumed that any support available in the school for SEN programs is also
applicable to teachers teaching ASD children.
5.3.1 SEN Policy on training of teachers
The need to train teachers with continuous professional development programs has become
imperative in order to meet the increasing expectations of the quality of education (Ganser,
2000). This is more crucial for teachers teaching children with special educational needs.
Austism-Europe (2005) places a legal responsibility on all states to train all teachers with
minimum standards of qualification in any educational settings to ensure that children with
ASD receive the best possible education. All these needs were incorporated in the SEN policy
of the schools and this policy has served as a reliable source of support for teachers teaching
children with autism in school because it served as a point of reference for getting all the
supports they needed in their teaching.
The SEN policy of all the schools mentioned of the availability of a separate budget allocated
for training of teachers and other professional development programs. The training of teachers
was in fact accorded a very high priority which demonstrates a very good support for the
development of inclusive education. The SEN policy of training teachers on SEN teaching
runs parallel to the UK government’s tiered approach of training teachers under the
government’s SEN Strategy of Removing Barriers to Achievement, which is a 10-year
‘vision’ for SEN. According to this SEN Strategy, the government aimed for a tiered
approach to training, where all teachers have core skills, some teachers have specialist skills
and some teachers in some local schools have advanced skills (Batten, 2000). Strange enough,
I doubt how much have been achieved through this Strategy because the information about
the background training of the participants of this study showed that not many had training
background on teaching autistic children.
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Despite this support on training and professional development, there were a few isolated cases
in which the participants expressed the need to improve the practice of providing such
training programs. For instance, although the SEN policy documents of the schools clearly
stated about the support for training teachers to teach SEN children, there was a situation in
which some of the participants of this study expressed the need to improve the training
services and do more to include more people. One participant stated,
The last professional development course that I have attended was two years ago and
sometimes I do feel stale when I have not been for such refresher courses for long. But I
do feel comfortable with what I do because of my long experience.
This contradicts with the statements made in the SEN policy documents of the school. The
SEN policy documents of all the three schools considered the training and development of
teacher competencies in teaching any form of SEN children as their topmost priority.
However, the study revealed that this was not experienced in reality. This indicated a gap
between the policy and practice. Alternatively, it could even be possible that this particular
teacher had missed the training for the last two years because the school must have seen some
other teachers needing the training more urgently than this particular teacher.
Although the SEN policy clearly stated that the schools will carry out an annual audit of
training needs to train teachers and other professionals in the school to teach children with
autism, the participants expressed for the need of training programs which are specifically
designed for teaching children with autism. This indicated two things. First, the professional
development and the training programs that the school and the council offer are not specific to
the needs of teachers teaching children with autism. Second, it could be possible that the
teachers either lack training in teaching autistic children or they did not feel comfortable with
their current knowledge. The information on training background of the participants however,
shows the participants’ training and experience of teaching autistic children as the lowest as
compared to other general teaching (refer Figure 1). This corresponds to the research by
Barnard et al (2002) who found that in schools identified as having pupils with ASD, only 22
per cent of teachers had received any autism training, the majority for between one to four
hours.
5.3.2 Support of SENCO (Special Educational Needs Coordinator)
According to the SEN policy of the schools, the SENCO has a very important role in assisting
teachers in teaching children with autism. This was also reported by the Department for
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Education and Skills (2001) in their publication of the SEN Code of Practice in UK. But,
despite the detailed outline of the responsibilities of the SENCO both in the SEN Code of
Practice (DfES, 2001) and the school SEN policies, I saw that the role of the SENCO was
more restricted to looking after the managerial and administrative part of SEN programs in
school. The SENCO hardly had a role in the provision of professional services although the
SEN Code of Practice and the SEN policy of the schools mandated the SENCO’s involvement
in the provision of professional support services to the teachers for teaching SEN children.
One participant viewed the role of SENCO as,
Unfortunately, a lot of her (referring to the SENCO) work is paper work making sure
that our annual reviews are done, the targets are fed. She is most of the time involved in
linking with outside agencies.
This indicates that the teachers expect more from the SENCO in supporting the teachers
professionally. I also feel that the SENCO should be more proactive in organizing appropriate
in-service training programs which engages the teachers in regular intellectual meets for
exchange of their professional ideas and expertise in teaching children with learning
difficulties. I would rather prefer to see a SENCO who could devote more time in the
provision of a variety of professional support to teachers instead of just performing
administrative and managerial roles. The fact that the mainstream school teachers are not so
inclusive in their instructional practices and the use of teaching strategies in teaching children
with autism also indicate the need for the SENCO to be more vigilant in monitoring and
assessing the effectiveness of SEN provisions in their respective schools.
5.3.3 Support of Language and Speech Therapist
The language and speech therapist played a very vital role in providing the teachers with the
necessary professional support in teaching children with autistic spectrum disorders (HMIe,
2006). Most of the participants expressed their appreciation and satisfaction for the support
they received from the language and speech therapist. The teachers saw the language and
speech therapist as a “great source of support” (School 2 Assistant Head Teacher) and a “great
help” (Teacher 1 School 3) for their classroom teaching. The language and speech therapist
was a strong source of support that one participant considered the personal interactions and
the time she spend with the language and speech therapist as a kind of training because she
found the support of the support of the language and speech therapist so useful to her.
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Despite the benefit that both teachers and children derived from the professional expertise and
advice of the language and speech therapist not all schools had the benefit of an on-site
language and speech therapist. Only one school in this study had language and speech
therapist that was based in the school permanently. One school had a language and speech
therapist who visited the school once fortnightly and in the third school, the language and
speech therapist visited the school for consultation with the teachers and children’s support
only once in a month. Whereas the support of the language and speech therapist was cited as a
very important source of support to both teachers in their teaching and the children with
autism for the development of their language and speech, the support the teachers and autistic
children received from the language and speech therapist was far too less, especially in the
two schools that did not have an on-site language and speech therapist.
5.3.4 Support from other mainstream teachers, students and parents
In general, teachers have been found to be unwilling and to accept a child with a disability
into the regular classroom (Cook, 2001; Cook, Tankersley, Cook, and Landrum, 2002). On
the contrary, to my pleasant surprise, most teachers in this study pointed the positive attitudes
and support of other mainstream teachers, other mainstream students and parents of nondisabled children as one of the most encouraging support they have in school. Some of the
participants even attributed the success of the inclusion programs in the school to the positive
support they received from the other teachers, parents, and students in the school. Batten
(2000) said that “where there is understanding and support; inclusion can have benefits for
both the child and whole school community” (p.96). The fact that the other teachers, students
and mainstream teachers have been able to provide this support indicates that they have
understood the special and unique needs of children with autism in school. In fact, this was
echoed by one of the teachers, who said,
The other positive thing is that the mainstream teachers receive them very positively in
the mainstream classes and even the other children in the mainstream school or classes
know and understand the needs of our children in Treetops and interact very well with
one another.
While such support from different people in general appeared encouraging, it was discovered
that it was not the same across all schools. One of the teachers reported,
Actually, this school is not really a good place for him to develop well because the
children here are sometimes very inconsiderate of the presence of such children with
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autism. Moreover, this school is so big and sometimes, the needs of children with SEN
can be left out and is not really an ideal setting for him.
This participant was concerned about the well being of the child with autism in her class
given the insensitive nature of other children in the class. Otherwise, in such a school
environment, where the children with disabilities are treated with disrespect, the objective of
mainstreaming education can never be successful.
5.3.5 Resource or budgetary support
I personally feel that all the schools had abundant resource and budgetary support to address
the needs of SEN children and subsequently to assist teachers teaching children with autism.
For instance, the SEN policy of all the schools have budgetary provisions for the procurement
of special books and equipments for SEN children, recruitment and payment for the learning
support assistants, and training of teachers and all school staff for SEN teaching. I have
observed that the teachers had access to a rich variety of teaching learning resources and the
fact that the classrooms in the schools are covered with colorful displays of learning materials
is evidence that the schools have adequate resources.
5.3.6 Support of Learning Support Assistants
I observed the learning support assistants playing a very active role in the class although
under the guidance and supervision of the class teacher. In one of the observations, I noticed
that the LSA was busy throughout the lesson guiding and assisting not just the child with
autism in his work but was assisting the teacher in the conduct of classroom learning
activities. Surprisingly, none of the participants acknowledged the support of the LSAs in
their teaching. At one time, Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education (2006) questioned and
challenged the training background and the quality of LSAs support to teachers in teaching
children with autism in mainstream schools in the UK, but I still would consider their service
as valuable to teachers.
If their training background and quality of support they provide both to the tteachers and
students are ever an issue, the schools should then look for appropriate means of training
these peoples because the schools have a separate budget for training of teachers and LSAs in
SEN teaching.
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5.3.7 Use of Individualised Education Plan (IEP)
Although I see IEP as one of the most powerful source of support for teachers in teaching
children with autism in a mainstream school setting, the teachers involved in this study hardly
mentioned anything about IEP. First, the IEP helps the teachers to plan and set their targets of
teaching in accordance to the learning needs of every individual child with autistic spectrum
disorder in this case of study. Second, it assists the teachers in identifying the appropriate
strategies and approaches for achieving these targets. Third, it makes the monitoring and
assessing the progress of children’s learning over a period of time. Given this use, which is so
crucial in making education for children with autism and other SEN children, I consider IEP
as a source of support.
In fact, it serves as a blue print or a road map to make teaching effective for all kinds of
children in school (Lee-Tarver, 2005). Recognizing the value of using IEP in teaching
children with special educational needs which includes autistic children as well, the Education
System in the UK mandates all teachers at all levels of schools to prepare IEP in teaching
SEN in children (DfES, 2001). Personally, instead of asking the teachers to use IEP in
teaching with SEN only, I would rather encourage all teachers even in the mainstream school
setting to use IEP as an integral part of their teaching because it has the power to make
education more effective and meaningful to all children irrespective of their abilities and
backgrounds.
5.3.8 Conclusion
While there is no support service that is specifically meant for teachers teaching children with
autism, yet the support that is available for SEN children in general was deemed pertinent for
teachers teaching children on the autistic continuum. This study revealed that there are
varying levels of support for the teachers of autistic children to teach any kinds of children
with special educational needs besides children with autism in mainstream school.
5.4 Challenges confronting teachers teaching children with autism in school
The challenges that confronted the teachers teaching children with autism spectrum disorder
were few but is worthy of discussion. The following section is an evaluation of the challenges
mentioned by the participants of this study.
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5.4.1 Rigid and inflexible thinking
The autistic children’s inability to shift their perception and thinking was cited as one of the
most difficult challenges confronted by teachers in this study. They reported that the rigidity
of their thinking not only led to behaviours that are difficult but also posed a challenge in
making them feel included in the school despite the school’s policy of inclusive education. I
did observe a behavioural problem in one of the schools, where one child exhibited some
challenging behaviours but the teacher dealt with this child very firmly. I did not see her
getting stressed and frustrated with the child’s behaviour even. Instead, I could see that the
teacher understood the child’s problem and said that it is natural for any child with autism to
show such behaviours on the first day of her school.
Explaining about the behavioural challenges of children with autism, one teacher stated,
Sometimes, it becomes so difficult to deal with the behaviour of these children because
they see things and do things in the way they see and think. They become so wild and
aggressive over a very simple problem….And the whole class gets disturbed but we
cannot blame them either because they understand very little about the impact of such
behaviours on others.
This participant admits that it is sometimes difficult to deal with the autistic behaviour of
these children especially when they are so wild and aggressive. The literature also suggested
that children with autism are consistently inconsistent in their abilities and behaviours which
make teaching them a big challenge (Magnusen, 2005: p.14), and often times so tiring and
frustrating (Oliver & Williams, 2005). However, in this case, although the teacher did admit
that it is sometimes difficult, the teacher does not blame the child for such problematic and
frustrating behaviours.
5.4.2 Time constraint
Especially teaching autistic children whose language and communication skills are very low,
the time required for making them understand one particular lesson can sometimes take
double the time required for teaching a normal child. Moreover, the teachers pointed out that
the need to break down the whole lesson into small manageable chunks and differentiating
their teaching to fit the needs of children with autism is surely a challenge. Research also
indicated the limited time available for instructional planning as one of the several
impediments to effective instruction of SEN students in regular education classrooms (Schulte
et al., 1998; Huefner, 2000).
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Moreover, the need to make Individualized Education Plans for every individual child with
autism or other disabilities and having to differentiate the classroom teaching within a regular
mainstream classroom can really pose an insurmountable challenge.
5.4.3 Inadequate resources
Personally, I found that the teachers in all the three schools had so much of resources
especially the material resources that can be used for teaching and learning. However, the
concerns regarding the lack of space to accommodate the ever increasing enrolment of
children within a limited classroom space was seen as genuine challenge. Although resource
constraint was cited as a problem, one of the participants did claim that the school is still
doing well despite this challenge. This was what she said,
Resources and funding is always an issue and a problem. But we do quite well also. We
have to be resourceful ourselves and we end up making quite a lot of resources
ourselves as you can find quite a lot of things around.
It was quite encouraging to see how positive one can be in the face of challenges and
problems. For this participant, she felt that a lot of resource constraint problems could be
solved at their own level by being a little more resourceful themselves. This clearly indicates
that the challenges faced in terms of resources is still manageable and is not a challenge that
can really upset the success of catering to the needs of the children with special educational
needs and the success of the school as such.
Conclusion
Although the challenges such as having to deal with the rigidity of autistic children’s thinking
and behaviour, time constraints and inadequate resources were not of a serious nature, yet
they remain as challenges. However, they are challenges which could still be managed and
solved through the mobilization of resources that are at the disposal of the teachers and
schools. For instance, if a teacher teaching an autistic child in a regular mainstream classroom
is feeling the pressure of time, the teacher could very well plan ahead of the lesson on how to
engage the learning support assistants throughout the lesson in a variety of activities instead
of just sitting next to the autistic child doing very little. In dealing with children’s rigidity of
thinking and behaviour, the teacher should be able to create a learning environment which is
less distracting and one that respects the social and emotional needs of the child with autism.
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Chapter 6
Conclusion
6.1 Introduction
In this final chapter, I critically reflect and look back on the entire process of this study. This
chapter is divided into three main parts. First I revisit my research questions and reflect on the
responses generated by the research questions and its implications for practice. Second, I
review the research methods and the limitations of the study. Finally, it describes the effect of
this study on my own professional and personal development. This chapter concludes with
some recommendations for future work and a concluding note.
6.2 Aim of this study
This study aimed to examine and investigate how the mainstream primary school teachers
taught social skills to children with autistic spectrum disorder. I set out with the following
research questions to carry out this investigation.

What strategies do the teachers in mainstream primary school classroom use to teach
social skills to children with ASD?

What kinds of support are available in teaching children with autism spectrum disorder
in the mainstream primary school?

What are the challenges faced by teachers in teaching social skills to children with
autism in a mainstream primary school?
With these research questions in mind, the study set out to probe further and to gain some
insights into the inclusive practices of addressing the social needs of children in mainstream
educational settings in the UK schools, which would later be useful in giving some directions
and guidance to my own home country, where inclusive education has just begun.
6.3 Research methodology
Given the descriptive nature of this study, case study was chosen as the research method for
this study as Silverman (2005) also suggested that case study offers the opportunity of
producing a thorough, analytically interesting research study to deepen the understanding of
the phenomenon investigated. Eight professionals of varying professional experiences and
training backgrounds from three mainstream primary schools were involved in this study.
Qualitative interviews, classroom observations and document analysis were employed as
research tools to gather information in response to the research questions. The use of semiRinchen Dorji, Student ID Number: 07233926
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structured interviews enabled me to obtain thick and rich descriptions to explain the
phenomenon of “How teachers teach social skills to children with autism in a mainstream
primary school?” The use of classroom observations helped me to see how the information
gleaned from the interviews and document analysis were transferred and applied into the
classroom practices. The document analysis provided me with the opportunity to see and
understand how the school’s policy and vision support the teachers in teaching children with
autistic spectrum disorder. All these research tools combined together to produce a wealth of
information to critically analyse the phenomenon investigated.
6.4 Summary of the findings
The findings of the study are presented in order of the teaching strategies used by teachers in
teaching autistic children, kinds of support available to teachers, and the challenges
encountered by teachers in teaching children on the autistic continuum.
6.4.1 Teaching Strategies
The study revealed a wide range of teaching strategies used by teachers teaching social skills
to children on the autistic continuum in school. They listed the following strategies as the
most commonly followed teaching strategies:

PECS (Picture Exchange Communication System)

TEACCH (Treatment and Education of Autistic and Related Communication
handicapped Children)

Visual timetables

Social stories.
Other teaching strategies that appeared to be less common but still effective in teaching social
skills to children with autism were:

Socially speaking

‘Transporters’ DVD

Play method

Modelling appropriate behaviours and using reinforcement,

Life skills programs

Talking partners or buddy systems

Inclusion Club and

Circle Time.
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The teachers who taught autistic children in a special education setting were more
knowledgeable and better informed about the practice of these strategies than the teachers
who taught autistic children in the mainstream setting.
6.4.2 Support services available to teachers in teaching children with autism
There was a good network of support services that enabled and facilitated the teachers in
teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder. The supports ranged from
budgetary support to a variety of professional supports as listed,

Support of the language and speech therapist

Access to professional development and training programs

Positive attitudes of other mainstream teachers, students, and parents

Budgetary support for SEN activities in school

Leadership and professional support from the Base Manager or In-charge, and

Administrative support of the SENCO in school.
All these supports that the teachers of autistic children received in school directly
corresponded to the UK government’s national policy on SEN provision and the SEN Code of
Practice (DfES, 2001).
6.4.3 Challenges
Whilst the teachers in general were found to be doing a good job of teaching children autistic
disorder, they did appear to face minor difficulties and challenges. They are listed below.

Autistic behaviour due to rigid and inflexible thinking

Shortage of time

Inadequate resources
Though a challenge to a few, these challenges were difficulties which still could be managed
and resolved with some improvement in the mobilization of resources and better coordination
of services.
6.4.4 Limitations
Time definitely was a serious limitation of this study. The time constraint was further
compounded by the difficulty and the complexities in the procedures of getting access to the
schools for data collection. The entire process of getting access to schools for data collection
was the most gruelling aspect of this research.
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I was able to have just one round of interviews with the participants but I feel a few more
rounds of interviews and meeting opportunities with the participants would have yielded more
information which would have given much deeper insights into the phenomenon investigated.
Moreover, I was not satisfied with my classroom observations. I could do only once and feel
that at least three observations each in both mainstream and SEN classrooms would have
produced better and realistic findings and conclusions. Only three cases could be investigated
in this study. Thus, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other mainstream
schools. This is yet another limitation. Finally, my own inexperience as a researcher and my
limited knowledge and experience on autism as the subject of this study was the most serious
limitation of this study.
6.4.5 Implications of the study
Although this study has been carried out in the context of schools in the UK, the implications
of this study will transcend geographical and cultural boundaries. The findings of this study
will certainly have far reaching impact and implications in my own home country where very
little is known about autism as a disability and not much have been achieved in the field of
inclusion. In fact, the implications of this study to the Bhutanese society and the education
system can be manifold. First, autism as a development disorder or as a disability is not
known to many educators, teachers, parents and policy makers in Bhutan. The findings of this
study will thus be used as a medium to educate the Bhutanese populace especially the
teachers, parents and educators about the presence of autism as a disability and the need to
acknowledge and respect their unique needs in society. Second, the findings on the types of
teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching social skills to autistic children can easily be
transferred to mainstream classrooms in Bhutanese schools with some modifications if
needed.
There are so many other implications that this study will have in Bhutan. The fact that this
study have been carried out at a time when Bhutan is undergoing through a critical phase of
transition from having been in isolation for so many centuries to a more globalized nation,
this is an added advantage. The journey towards inclusion has just begun and there is so much
to achieve. In this move towards inclusion, there is so much Bhutan can learn from the
experiences of others where this move towards inclusion had begun ages back and so much
have been achieved. The other implications that the findings of this study is expected to have
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in the Bhutanese education system and society besides the ones listed in the preceding
paragraph are,

Development of inclusive policies and legislations to protect the rights of children with
autism and other disabilities.

Formulation of policies and procedures that provides a clear direction and guidance to
all teachers, parents, educators, policy makers and other relevant stakeholders in the
implementation of inclusion.

Strategizing educational programmes and activities to make education more inclusive
and welcoming to embrace diversity and differences.

The importance of the provision of a good network of support services in terms of
budgetary support, resource allocation, and training of teachers at both pre-service and
in-service teacher training programs.

Consider the potential challenges in the context of the Bhutanese society in the
development of policies for inclusion.
Bhutan may not be in a position to implement these ideas as the education system and the
schools in the UK have done. However, these inclusive practices could be taken as a model
where Bhutan can build and launch its inclusion programs with some modifications and
adjustments to fit the Bhutanese culture and economy which is very important.
6.4.6 Broadening my own perception
More than anything else, the impact that I have felt on my own personal and professional
development is in fact the most rewarding aspect of this study. I chose to carry out this study
on “How mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to children with autism?” out
of my sheer personal interest and to some extent inspired and motivated by the existing
educational practices in Bhutan where not much is known about autism nor about inclusive
practices. I challenged myself to study on something that I had no idea at all but it proved to
be a challenge worth taking. The journey was difficult and bumpy at times but it was a
journey well taken and I feel I have learnt a great deal from this study.
As a teacher and a professional, I did not have the slightest idea about what autism was and
what it means to be an autistic individual. I look back at my past professional services with
shame for being so ignorant and I hope I have not wronged any child with autistic disorder in
my career so far due to this blatant naked ignorance. As I near the completion of this study, I
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would say that I am now a different person, a different professional and shall never be that
same ignorant person ever again in my life. I might not know much but I at least have a basic
understanding about autism and have the essential skills to deal with an autistic individual
respecting his or her needs. Personally it was an eye-opening experience for me both at a
personal and professional level.
Next, the knowledge and the insights gained from readings on inclusion policies and
procedures in the UK and a few other western countries have increased and expanded my
repertoire of knowledge particularly on inclusion and rights-based education. Whilst I had
done some work on inclusion back home in Bhutan prior to this study, I realized that my
perception of inclusion was different from what academics and inclusion experts actually
meant. The findings on the different teaching strategies used by teachers in teaching social
skills to children with autism, the support services available for teachers in school, and the
challenges encountered all provided me with a new lens to look that issue of inclusion
altogether. The additional readings on inclusion and mainstreaming of SEN children with
particular reference to the UK SEN Code of Practice, SEN Strategy: Removing Barriers to
Achievement, the Salamanca Statement, and a number of international declarations all
broadened my horizon of knowledge and learning on inclusion on the whole.
Now I can clearly see how I perceived inclusion then, prior to this study and my perception of
inclusion now. I realize that my perception of inclusion before was “integration” and not
“inclusion”. I perceived inclusion as getting everybody in one same school but I realize that it
is not. What I have seen in Bhutan is actually “integration” in the same of “inclusion” and I
feel an urgent need to correct this mistake. In Bhutan, in the name of inclusion a few children
with some disabilities are put into a school without any special support but these children are
mostly expected to adapt to the practice of the school and the school curriculum, which is
typically “integration” in practice. “Inclusion” to me now not only involves getting a child
with SEN to a school but also doing everything possible in school to fit the needs of the child.
Inclusion involves modification of educational practices to match and adapt to the needs of a
child and not otherwise. I acknowledge that what I have learnt is so little and recognize the
need to learn so many other elements and factors that determine inclusive educational
practices but I feel that I have learnt something to at least initiate small changes and
differences in my own professional practice, which will ultimately impact the education
system in the long run.
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Furthermore, the act of carrying out this small research study has opened my eyes to the
different aspects of research as an academic enterprise. Besides helping me to shape the
subject of this study, I was able to understand the technicalities and mechanics of research on
the whole. This research study did not only involve researching “How teachers taught social
skills to children with autism in a mainstream primary school?” but it was also a research
which entailed researching my own knowledge of autism and my perception of inclusive
educational practices and the art of research using different research methods and tools.
Finally, to begin with my initiative to make the knowledge gained from this study active and
useful, I intend to share the findings of this study with my colleagues, teachers, educators,
parents, pre-service teachers, and policy makers. The focus of this discussion will not be on
the findings of the study as such but will emphasize more on autism as a developmental
disorder and the need to respect their unique developmental needs and the concept of
inclusion and inclusive practices.
6.4.7 Recommendations for future research
The success of the inclusion of any children with special educational needs in the mainstream
education depends to some extent on the instructional practices followed by teachers in the
classrooms. While this study attempted to do this, it was a very small scale study, where the
findings could not be generalized to other mainstream primary schools. Therefore, a
quantitative study involving greater sample of teacher population with more number of
schools could yield findings which are more generalizable across different settings. Further,
this study did not involve any SEN students. A research in this same area of study involving
both teachers and SEN students could come up with interesting finds which will have the
voices of children included in the final findings. Because the children could be the best people
to judge the effectiveness of inclusive practices.
6.4.8 Conclusion
Social skills deficits are hallmark characteristics of autism spectrum disorders. This research
was a modest attempt to see how the mainstream primary school teachers teach social skills to
children autism spectrum disorders with a hidden objective to see whether the children on the
autistic continuum are fully absorbed or integrated into the system. The study revealed the use
of a variety of teaching strategies for teaching social skills to children with autism in the SEN
classroom by special education teachers. Unfortunately, the teachers in the mainstream
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classrooms hardly use teaching strategies that social engages the child with autism during the
lesson. Instead, there were indications of a heavy reliance on the support of the learning
support assistants by the mainstream teachers to attend to the needs of autistic children.
Whilst there was a good network of support facilities which enabled the teachers to teach
children with autism in a mainstream setting, there were needs to design training programs
which specifically caters to the needs of teachers teaching autistic children. Lastly, the study
also revealed a few challenges which were seen as obstacles but did not really pose a major
problem.
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Teaching social skills to children with autism in mainstream school
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APPENDIX A
Participant Consent Letter
Dear................................................,
This letter introduces a personal research study and solicits your consent to be one of the
research participants.
I am a student pursuing a graduate study for MA in Special Educational Need at Roehampton
University in London. I am required to submit a dissertation in partial fulfilment of study
program mentioned above. As part of this dissertation, I have planned to carry out a research
on the teaching strategies that teachers use for teaching social skills to children with
autism spectrum disorder in a mainstream primary school.
The study intends to investigate on the type of teaching strategies used by the teachers in
mainstream primary school in teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorder.
The study also hopes to gain an insight into the challenges faced by teachers in teaching social
skills to children with autism in a mainstream school setting. The findings of this study will of
immense help to the Bhutanese education system where autism as a developmental disorder is
hardly known and addressed in the educational milieu.
As such, I am looking for 5 mainstream primary school teachers to volunteer as participants
for this study. There will be three rounds of one-to-one interview, in which the teacher
participants will be asked to share their experiences of teaching social skills to children with
autism. The teachers would also be asked to share some of the challenges they face in
teaching social skills to children with autism in a mainstream school setting. Interview time
and location will be arranged at their convenience and there will be three rounds of interviews
altogether. Although the duration of the interview will vary depending on the conversations,
however, attempts shall be made where the interviews do not stretch beyond 30-45 minutes.
This is to inform you that your identity will not be disclosed to anybody. Pseudonyms will be
used to protect your identity. Your participation is strictly voluntary and you will be free to
withdraw from the study at any time.
If you are interested in participating in this study, please sign the following consent form
which indicates that you have a clear understanding of what the research is about and your
role as a research participant. Should you have any further questions about this research, you
can contact me at my email address: rinchendorji2008@gmail.com.
Sincerely yours
(Rinchen Dorji)
Roehampton University
London.
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Statement of Consent
"I have read the description of the study proposed and I stand clear of what the research is
about and my role as a research participant. I,.........................................................................,
agree to participate in this study."
.........................................................
...................................................
(Participant’s signature)
(Date)
************************************************************************
"To the best of my ability I, ......................................................................., have explained the
purposes, objectives, and the nature of this study to Mr/Mrs.......................................................
and I have clarified all of his/her queries about the research topic."
…………………………
...............................................
(Researcher’s Signature)
Rinchen Dorji, Student ID Number: 07233926
(Date)
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APPENDIX B
Interview Questions
Preliminary Details
Participant Code: …………………………….
Years of Teaching:……………………….
Training level:………………………………..
Training in SEN:…………………………
Gender:……………………………………….
Subjects taught:…………………………..
Time: ……………………………………..
Date:………………………………….
NOTE: Information on participant details such as the training level, years of teaching,
training in SEN, subjects taught, etc shall be asked before the start of the interview as a
rapport building measure to set a friendly environment conducive for an interactive
interview.
Questions:
1. How do you engage children with autism spectrum disorder socially in your class?
2. What are some of the teaching strategies that you mostly use in teaching social skills
to children with autism spectrum disorder?
3. Which of the teaching strategies are most effective in teaching social skills to children
with ASD?
4. Why do you say that these strategies are effective?
5. How do you know that these strategies are effective in teaching social skills to
children with ASD?
6. What kind of support do you have in the school for teaching social skills to children
with ASD?
7. What policies and regulations do you have in the school to help children with ASD
develop their social skills?
8. What are some of the challenges that you face in teaching social skills to children
with ASD?
9. What could be some of the measures that will help to overcome these challenges?
10. Any other thoughts……
NOTE: Thank the individual for participating in the interview. Assure him or her of
confidentiality of responses)
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APPENDIX C
Classroom Observation Sheet
(50 Minutes)
Participant Code: ……………………………
Years of Teaching:…………………………
Training level: ………………………………
Training in SEN:…………………………..
Gender: ……………………………………..
Subjects taught:……………………………
Time: ………………………………………
Date:……………………………………….
Time (Minutes)
Interaction Types
Reflective Notes
1–5
6–
10
1115
1620
2125
2630
3135
3640
4145
Teacher speaks to the
whole class
Teacher asks a question to
an autistic child
An autistic child responds
to the whole class
An autistic child talks to a
teacher
An autistic child talks to a
friend/group
An autistic child looks at
the teacher
An autistic child asks for
something from a friend
A child (non-disabled)
talks to an autistic child or
hands over something to
an autistic child
NOTE: Use “stroke” or “tally” marks ( ) to indicate the type of interaction in the class which engages the
child with autism socially.
*** The frequency of how a child with autism in the class is engaged socially will be noted with special
attention.
Focus
Oberver Comments
Classroom organization
Classroom Display
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Pupil grouping
Seating arrangements
Teacher position in
relation to pupils
Position of Teaching
Assistant
Types of Teaching
Learning Resources
used
Any other observations:
Thanks!
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