GENERAL EDUCATION TEACHERS NEED TO BE PREPARED TO CO-TEACH THE INCREASING NUMBER OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM IN INCLUSIVE SETTINGS

The sustained increase in the number of children diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder (ASD) has become a widespread concern throughout the US as well as globally. Federal mandates (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act [IDEA], 2004; No Child Left Behind [NCLB]) have directed state education departments and local educational agencies (LEAs) to address the pedagogical needs of these children in the least restrictive environments, namely, inclusive classroom settings. It has been reported that most teachers graduate from university teacher preparation programs with minimum training in evidence-based practices for children diagnosed with autism. Consequently, educators continue to be challenged to learn disability-specific teaching skills that are grounded in the principles of Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) to address meeting the learning needs of these students. This study examines: (a) the increase of children diagnosed with autism in the Southeastern region of NY over a five year period (2003-2007); and (b) the number of ABA trained general education teachers in this region who co-teach in inclusive classrooms that include children classified with autism. The findings of this study recommend future research be empirically conducted in: (a) comparing the various ABA methodologies to determine the efficacy of each intervention with children classified with ASD; and (b) revising preparatory programs for teachers in higher education to include ABA methodologies to prepare educators to teach children with ASD in inclusive settings. Based on the research findings, institutions of higher education should continue to examine their course of study for all educators and revise their respective curricula to include ABA intervention methodologies which would ultimately benefit not only children classified with autism but other disability categories as well.