Effective Strategies to Influence Performance of Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder Within Inclusive Classrooms

PURPOSE: The purpose of this thematic synthesis was to determine effective strategies that can enhance the performance of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in an inclusive school setting. Startling statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2014) revealed that one in every 68 children have been diagnosed with ASD. Of the students with ASD who attended a regular school, 61.1% spent 80% or more of their time in an inclusive classroom (Snyder & Dillow, 2015). However, there has been little research that indicates the most effective methods to help children with ASD perform at their highest abilities within inclusive classrooms.

DESIGN: A thematic synthesis was used to draw conclusions based on common themes across heterogeneous studies on interventions aimed to influence academic performance of students with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive classrooms.

METHOD: Articles reviewed for this study were located using the ERIC, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar databases and had the inclusion criteria of meeting search terms such as autism inclusion, inclusive classrooms, autism in the classroom, video modeling for autism, autism social interaction in classroom, inclusive schools, and autism teacher training inclusive classrooms. Seventy-six articles were reviewed and analyzed by the research team. Of the 76 articles, 59 were used in this thematic synthesis. Researchers used a constant comparative approach to analyze all articles, which included all data being evaluated and findings compared (Vickers & Offredy, 2010). The research team was trained in thematic synthesis and comparative approaches. The team analyzed and open coded the 59 articles. After data saturation and informational redundancy were reached, the data revealed five broad themes from 21 codes.

RESULTS: The following five themes emerged from this study: disruptive behaviors, inclusion strategies, social interaction, video modeling, and teacher training.

CONCLUSION: Optimal student performance can be achieved when effective strategies are used to minimize disruptive behaviors, enhance the inclusive environment, enhance social interactions, provide opportunities to use video to model behavior, and collaborate with teachers to ensure they are equipped with proper training.

IMPACT STATEMENT: Occupational therapists should incorporate inclusion strategies and provide sufficient support to teachers within the interdisciplinary team to improve social interaction and decrease maladaptive behaviors in the classroom. This will ultimately create an environment that provides opportunity to positively influence performance of students with ASD in the inclusive classroom.

References

Center for Disease Control and Prevention. (2014). CDC estimates 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder [Data and statistics]. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/media/releases/2014/p0327-autism-spectrum-disorder.html

Snyder, T. D., & Dillow, S. A. (2015). Digest of education statistics 2013 (NCES 2015-011). Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, Institute of Education Sciences, U.S. Department of Education.

Vickers, P., & Offredy, M. (2010). The constant comparative method. In M. Offredy (Ed.), Developing a healthcare research proposal: An interactive student guide. Oxford, England: Wiley Blackwell. Retrieved from http://www.researchproposalsforhealthprofessionals.com/constant_comparative_method.htm