Teachers’ Expectations And Academic Support For The Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder In Regular Classroom

In regular school,students with autism spectrum disorder（ASD）face challenges in academic achievement and life adjustment.Teachers’ expectations and academic support for student with ASD may affect students’ development and educational outcomes.The purpose of this study was to understand the characteristics and influencing factors of teachers’ expectations and academic support for students with ASD in inclusive class,to explore the relationship between teachers’ expectations and academic support,and to provide a research basis for teachers to establish reasonable expectations and provide effective academic support for students with ASD.This study adopted quantitative research.Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 9 teachers,and Grounded Theory was adopted to explore teachers’ expectations for students with ASD in inclusive class and the factors that influence them,academic support provided by teachers and the factors that influence them,and the relationship between teachers’ expectations and academic support.Results:1.The results revealed that teachers’ expectations for students with ASD were low compared to typically developing students,and some of the expectations were not clear.Teachers’ expectations included: acquiring good moral character,developing social skills,following classroom discipline,improving academic performance,and increasing functional skills.The salient features of teachers’ expectations were: overall expectations tend to be negative and specific goals are not clear;teachers’ evaluation of expectations is influenced by special educational needs of students with ASD;negative effects may be caused by teachers’ expectations.2.Teachers’ expectations were influenced by the personal attributes of teachers and students.The behavior in class,language communication,social competence and challenging behaviors of students with ASD,as well as teachers’ concept of inclusive education,teaching-efficacy for students with ASD,position,perception of autism had a significant impact on teachers’ expectations,and parental attitudes influenced teachers’ expectation tendency to a certain extent.3.The overall level of teachers’ academic support was low,including cognitive support,emotional support and systematic support.The salient features of teachers’ expectations were: cognitive support and emotional support were the most,while systematic support was the least;the forms of evaluation is single and lacks personalized evaluations;emotional support relied on teachers to take an active role;teachers grew professionally in the process of providing academic support to students with ASD.4.There were several difficulties in inclusive education for students with ASD,including lack of home-school cooperation and systematic support,insufficient inclusive atmosphere,and teachers’ lack of professional guidance in special education.5.Teacher expectations were correlated with academic support,which was consistent with the expectation effect.The teachers’ expectations were influenced by the personal attributes of students with ASD while personal attributes,while the level of teachers’ expectations were influenced by teachers’ personal attributes.According to the content and level of teachers’ expectations,teachers provide corresponding support in teaching.Academic support can’t fully realize the teachers’ expectations.Based on the research results,the following conclusions were drawn: teachers’ expectations and academic support levels for students with ASD were low and affected by the external behavioral characteristics of students with ASD,teachers’ personal traits,perceptions of autism and attitudes toward inclusive education.To improve the quality of students with ASD’s participation in inclusive class,teachers should establish appropriate expectations and provide academic support for students with ASD;enhance teacher training to improve teachers’ competencies in inclusive education;establish student evaluation system to improve teacher performance appraisal;and establish social support system to improve the quality of inclusive education by combining homeschool education.