Having children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in a class is a situation that involves the family, teachers, the entire center team, and their classmates and families as well.
Special education centers for autistic individuals
In Spain, there are 481 special education centers that serve around 32,000 students, which is 21.5% of the total. The rest, more than 117,000, are integrated into regular schools and high schools.
The schooling of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has always been a topic of debate among education and psychology professionals. On significant dates such as World Autism Awareness Day, the aim is to give visibility to the schooling of minors with disabilities in mainstream centers.
Students with autism in mainstream classes
According to Raquel Ayuda, a psychologist specializing in the subject, “the challenge in inclusive education is that the student is not only present in the classrooms with the other children but also becomes part of that school and those classrooms, just like the rest.”
The resources available for this type of integration are critical, not only in the economic aspect but also in the training of educators, advice, and support for those who will be in charge of him/her in the classroom, etc. For Rafael Villanueva, Clinical Coordinator of the Child Development and Early Intervention Center (CDIAP) of Granollers, “coordination with public or private centers that treat the child and networking are very important. Direct attention to the child in the classroom is the tip of the iceberg of an entire network of coordination between teams and the training, advice, and support for teachers.”
Josep Mª Brun points out that “there is no general and unique indication as to what is the best schooling for a child with an autistic disorder. Both special and mainstream schools can be good indications in a given situation and case.”
Psychologists as reinforcement for the integration of autistic individuals in classes
When a person with Autism Spectrum Disorder participates in a class, whether special or mainstream, but fundamentally in the latter, teachers can have difficult-to-manage feelings, and may feel that what they provide is insufficient or that they are not giving something that truly reaches them. Inexperience in these cases requires, as Rafael Villanueva says, “teacher training and also the care and advice they receive from the Psycho-pedagogical Advisory Teams of the schools and from specialized Early Intervention and Mental Health professionals.”
This is clearly supported by Raquel Ayuda, who emphasizes the importance of training and support for the teaching team and their specialization: “In addition to teacher training, there is a need to recognize appropriate communication and learning methodologies for these students so that they can directly stimulate the competencies of the child with ASD.”
I have a student with autism
In the full interview, the director and teaching team of the Master’s in Autism Spectrum Disorders explain in detail more points to consider in the integration of autistic individuals in schools.