Shahar Bar Yehuda- Who Cares About Autism? General Education Social Inclusion Programs скачать в хорошем качестве

Shahar Bar Yehuda- Who Cares About Autism? General Education Social Inclusion Programs

Presentation given by Shahar Bar Yehuda from theALUT - The Israeli Society for children and Adults with Autism, Givatayim, (Israel) at the Autism-Europe's 12th International Congress 2019: "A New Dynamic for Change and Inclusion", held the 13-15th September 2019 in Nice, France. Introduction The increase in the prevalence of students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Israel during the recent decade highlights two contradictory manifestations - a rapid growth in the amount of included students with ASD in general education (GE) settings, about 30 percent of the entire students with ASD population, along with a steady reduction in the percentage of included students with ASD during junior and high school years.This paradox can be partially attributed to the ignorance of GE teachers, teacher’s assistants (TA) and typically developing (TD) students toward the unique characteristics of students with ASD and their lack of willingness to take responsibility over the social and academic wellbeing of included students with ASD. Methods These has brought the Israeli Society for Children and Adults with Autism to develop two programs - a training program for GE school teachers and TA, and a social inclusion program for GE junior and high school students. The programs are operated with the approval and cooperation of the ministry of education and several municipalities.The teachers and TA training program aim to equip its participants’ with current theoretical and practical knowledge regarding the unique characteristics of students with ASD, to emphasize the importance of TD classmates and ASD peers to the inclusion process succession, to implement effective learning methods and to establish effective communication channels with caregivers.The social inclusion program aim to signify human diversity, to create autism friendly climate, support students with ASD self presentation and to cultivate pro-inclusion social and academic networks in GE classrooms.To date, the programs were implemented in four general education settings in Israel - one junior high school teacher program, two junior high school students programs, and a kindergarten teacher assistants program. Results Feedback group sessions indicate a shift in the participants’ perception and self-efficacy toward the inclusion of students with ASD in their classrooms. Accordingly, further applications to implement the programs in other GE settings were received. Discussion Our objectives are to increase the percentage of included students with ASD during junior and high school years by upscaling the training programs implementation in GE settings throughout Israel, and to encourage governmental and municipal stake holders to take responsibility over these programs.