Special education teachers’ perceptions of and practices in individualizing instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities in China

In recent years, the concept of individualized instruction has gained increasing attention among special educators, researchers, and policy makers in China. At the same time, many are concerned that as a concept borrowed from Western countries, individualized instruction may not be successfully implemented in China’s social and cultural context. The literature, however, has revealed little empirical information about what Chinese teachers actually do and think about individualized instruction. This study therefore aimed to investigate Chinese special education teachers’ perceptions and practices related to individualizing or adapting instruction for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Specifically, the investigation focused on teachers who taught elementary Chinese language arts and math in public special education schools for students with IDD in Shanghai and were considered as effective teachers by school administrators. A generic qualitative research design was utilized. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 31 teachers from six schools. Thematic analysis was employed to analyze the interview data. Analysis revealed that the participants shared many similarities in their practices and perceptions. In general, they recognized the wide range of student differences existing in their classrooms and the necessity of adapting instruction to accommodate student differences. However, in reality, practices and beliefs associated with one-size-fits-all approaches of teaching were prevalent. Although all participants described making efforts to address individual differences, these efforts seemed to be inadequate, as indicated by significant limitations in both assessment and adaptation practices reported in the study. The participants perceived fully addressing the needs of individual students as difficult and described challenges in four areas. The study revealed that teachers seemed to hold the conflicting perceptions that instruction should be adapted to accommodate individual needs and that the structure of standardized approaches of teaching should be maintained. In this context, a fenceng instruction method was used to address individual differences, which involved minor changes to traditional standardized approaches of teaching; instruction tailored to each individual’s need was not found

Parent involvement in meaningful post-school experiences for young adults with IDD and pervasive support needs

Despite initiatives supporting young adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) to engage in post-secondary education and integrated employment, those with more intensive support needs are not as easily involved in these post-school experiences. In an effort to learn from positive examples, we examined parent involvement in meaningful post-school experiences by eight young adults with IDD and pervasive support needs. Secondary analysis of data from a prior interview study yielded this smaller sample of eight young adults with meaningful post-school experiences. Their parents were actively involved as fierce advocates and creative problem solvers. The active involvement of parents included: a) attitudinal facilitators, b) advocacy efforts and perceptions, and c) strategic actions. Implications for future research and practice are described

Parent and teacher perspectives on friendships and social interactions of secondary students with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Friendships between students with and without intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) remain infrequent, especially at the secondary level. However, when friendships between students with and without IDD have developed, direct support from parents and teachers has been a critical facilitator. Thus, this qualitative study examined parent (n = 10) and teacher (n = 20) perspectives on friendships and social interactions of middle and high school students with IDD receiving special education services in inclusive settings at least part of the day. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews with each participant and analyzed inductively utilizing a multi stage process of open and then thematic coding. The thematic findings suggest that the challenge of friendship development between students with and without IDD is ongoing, though there may be potential in focusing more explicitly and intentionally on increasing social interaction opportunities both in and out of school. Implications for future research and practice are described in the context of supporting students with and without IDD to increase social interactions and develop friendships

Parent perceptions of time spent meaningfully by young adults with pervasive support needs

This article describes a qualitative study that examined how 23 young adults with pervasive support needs and limited functional communication spent their time and how their parents (n=23) and direct support professionals (DSPs; n=2) defined meaningfulness in relation to the young adults’ experiences. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the parents and DSPs. Findings indicated that most of the young adults spent time in their communities, though typically without friends and not engaged in integrated employment. The participants defined meaningfulness according to three dimensions: community participation, individual indicators, and the nature of activities in the young adults’ schedules. They also described both episodic and ongoing challenges that hindered their ability to focus on time spent meaningfully. Finally, their definitions, which reflected basic care needs and community participation goals, raised questions related to the awareness, availability, and utilization of services and supports in the adult developmental disabilities system

Examining Pre-Service Teacher Candidates’ Sources and Levels of Knowledge about Autism Spectrum Disorders

This study was designed to identify what pre-service teacher candidates knew about autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and how they had acquired that knowledge in order to design more effective preparation courses. Teacher candidates (N=87) from three teacher preparation programs completed questionnaires during, or prior to, their first special education course. The findings indicate a relationship between sources of knowledge about ASD and actual levels of knowledge. Based on the findings, the authors argue that there is a need for coursework that focuses on effective intervention strategies and utilizes direct opportunities for teacher candidates to work with students with ASD