Teachers’ needs in mainstream secondary schools regarding the inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder: a cross-country study

The Dutch and Mexican education systems face different challenges in building inclusive schools, but in both countries, teachers play an essential role in the inclusion of students with special educational needs. This study therefore identifies the needs of mainstream secondary school teachers (n = 79) within both countries, specifically when teaching students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Using Q methodology, we distinguished four specific teacher needs profiles for each country. In this article, we compare and contrast these different perspectives. Notably, most of the higher-ranked needs were not country-specific, despite the different organisation of school systems and ways in which inclusive education was implemented.