The basics of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Abstract
Some children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are not receiving adequate education in
our school system. One of the main reasons for that is a lack of teacher efficacy. Many teachers
are not confident when educating children with ASD and not prepared in their teacher training
programs. One of the main factors correlated with teacher efficacy is education and experience.
Two areas that are lacking for the majority of teachers. For my project, I chose to create a
workshop for elementary school teachers with the goal of raising their teacher efficacy when
working with students who have ASD. The workshop will include an overview of ASD, discuss
evidence-based practices that they can try in their classrooms, preventative strategies for
behavior management, and important ways to improve engagement. The goal of this project is to
improve teacher’s overall confidence level when interacting with children with ASD.