Autism Education: An Analysis of Methods Currently used in Vermont Schools

Introduction: Autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) affect a child's behavior, social, and communication skills. In 2009 in VT, approximately 1000 students received special education services for ASD. University of Vermont College of Medicine students collaborated with Puppets in Education (PiE), a non-profit organization that uses special puppets to teach children about health/social issues, to determine how to best educate the community about ASD. Objective: Use survey research to determine perceived effectiveness of current ASD education in schools and the practice of including children with ASD in the regular classroom. Methods: An electronic survey was sent to 7,091 individuals across Vermont: families with a child with ASD, families without a child with ASD, and educational professionals. Results: Of 201 surveys, educational professionals were more likely than parents to view current curriculum as effective (75% vs. 55%; X2= 6.927; df=1; p<0.01). On a Likert scale, educational professionals were more confident than parents in their school's ability to balance needs of children with ASD and peers (X2=11.944; df=4, p=0.018). Families with children with ASD were more confident in their ability to discuss ASD with other adults than were educational professionals (X2=43.121; df=4; p<0.01) or other parents (X2=25.26; df=4;p<0.01). Conclusions: Educators desire more training in the education and inclusion of children with ASD. Families are expert in the specific needs of their child. Based on survey data, PiE programs can assist with peer-to-peer education, resources for educators and larger community education issues such as community inclusion, disclosure, confidentiality and social skills enhancement.