Autism specific education in South African public schools: practices and challenges

[摘要] English: Occupational therapists employed in district-based support teams within the South African publiceducational system play a key role in assisting disabled learners with educational support. Learners with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) have difficulty in accessing appropriate education in public schools in the Motheo District. As a short-term goal to provide the growing number of ASD learners with access to education, autism-specific classes commenced in three special schools and two full-service schools within the Motheo District in 2010. Presently, schools in the Motheo District follow their own strategies regarding the overall management and design of their autism-specific services, and there appears to be variability in the quality of autism-specific education. The development of a context-based, accessible, applicable and sustainable service model is critical. The role of district-based occupational therapists does not only entail the design of support strategies for marginalised learners, but also the monitoring of quality education tolearners with ASD in public schools.Since autism-specific education is a new addition to special needs education in the Free State, there are no sustainable service models, training programmes and self-auditing tools in place for use in the expansion and maintenance of quality autism-specific education. Hence, there was a need to determine how other provinces responded to the increased need for autism-specific education and the structuring of ASD educational services. The primary aim of the research study entailed an investigation of practices and challenges in South African public schools that offer autism-specific education with the end goal of contributing to developing tools to monitor quality education, strategies to support and develop educators and to expand quality ASD education in the Motheo District.The literature overview highlighted that the global increase in the prevalence of ASD (c.f. 2.2.6) holds significant implications for the provisioning of specialised educational services. Autismspecific education is costly due to the high frequency of intervention by specialised staff; the extensive adjustments to learning material; intensive training programmes; assistive technology; and the need for individualised support strategies. Internationally, there has also been a shift from accommodating learners in special schools to provide inclusive education, which accommodates diverse needs in an ordinary classroom setting. White Paper 6 (2001(1):5) introduced inclusive education in South African schools, but various systemic barriers within the South African context complicate the transformation to an inclusive education system. Globally, the inclusion of learners with high-level support needs remains a challenge. There has been a dramatic increase in the quantity and range of products marketed for educating learners with ASD. Many of theseprogrammes and training modules are not affordable, accessible or applicable to South African public schools. The mentioned challenges contributed to the need for investigating the practices and challenges of autism-specific education in South African public schools. A quantitative approach and a descriptive study design were used. The study had five research objects that focussed on:(i) The training and experience of educators of ASD classes;(ii) School-based operations;(iii) Classroom practices;(iv) Autism-specific support strategies; and(v) Challenges and critical success factors of autism-specific education.Educators of autism-specific classes within the South African public sector were selected as the study population. The total population of educators who fit the inclusion criteria was surveyed, since sampling was not appropriate for the small research population. In the absence of an appropriate standardised measurement tool, a questionnaire was designed. The focus of the study was to investigate autism-specific education through a wide lens rather than to perform an in-depth study into a specific aspect of autism-specific education. An expert and evaluation committee reviewed the questionnaire concerning the appropriateness of the items in terms of the literature available and alignment with the research objectives. A research methodology was developed to optimise response rates and to facilitate a standard data collection process across schools.Approval was obtained from the Ethics Committee, Faculty Health Sciences, University of the Free State (ECUFS no 09/2013). Permission was obtained from all the relevant authorities to conduct the study at public schools within South Africa that offer autism-specific education. A pilot study was performed to determine the viability of the study, to ensure that all processes run efficiently and to achieve objectives. A key objective in the design of the measurement process was to use methodology that optimised participation of a population that was scattered nationally, to maximise return rate on questionnaires and to ensure the collection of interpretable data. The study had a response rate of 75%.The Department of Biostatistics at the University of the Free State did the analysis and descriptive statistics were calculated. The study found that some challenges and practices are similar to global trends, but that the South African context produces unique practices and challenges. Barriers in the South African education system (e.g. variability in the quality of education and provisioning of resources) and difficulties in the implementation of inclusive education at national, provincial, district and school level seemed to significantly affect support to marginalised learners. Autism support groups play a key role in the development and expansion of autism-specific education within the South African context. Schools are taking responsibility for the development of school- and classroom-based practices within the limitations of their infrastructure, funding model and availability of specialist resources. Educators of ASD classes are pioneers in developing context-based autism-specific education practices, but they are at risk for occupational burnout due to challenges in the South African inclusive education system.The study provided valuable information that would aid district-based occupational therapists in the design of training programmes, service standards and strategies to develop quality autismspecific education in the Motheo District.

[发布机构] University of the Free State