An examination of teacher attitudes towards children with autism

Abstract

Since Leo Kanner first described it in 1943, autism has attracted a flurry of research. That research has transformed an esoteric condition into a better understood disorder. In addition to shifting conceptualisations, the new research seems to have influenced people's attitude towards the disorder. However, few studies have examined people's attitudes towards the disorder within the context of this robust research. This current study was designed to examine teachers' attitudes towards children with autism and to find out if teachers' attitudes have changed amidst this research. Results demonstrated that most of the teachers had positive attitude towards children with autism.