Teachers’ awareness and perceptions of inclusive education for learners with autism: Implications for the campaign against stigma

While the number of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) enrolled in conventional schools continues to rise, teachers’ inadequate understanding of autism is a major educational concern. How teachers’ lack of knowledge affects their perspectives regarding the inclusion of autistic learners in the regular classroom has been under-researched. This study is cross-sectional research aimed at investigating how knowledgeable educators are about autism and what they think about providing inclusive education to autistic students. A sample size of 1632 elementary school educators from Southeast Nigeria were used for the study. Two separate questionnaires were used for data collection: the Autism Inclusion Questionnaire for Teachers (AIQT) and the Autism Awareness Questionnaire (AAQ), while Regression Analyses and Descriptive Statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings showed a low level of understanding of autism and a general unfavorable impression of teachers regarding the inclusion of autistic students in mainstream classrooms. It was also evident that educators who displayed a high level of awareness had more tendency to express positive expectations for their students’ performance and to believe that inclusive education for students with autism is vital and advantageous. The findings of the study are significant in providing the information needed to support the urgent need for an awareness campaign in the study area - primary schools.