Teachers' and Educational Rehabilitators' Perceptions of Provided Support for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Abstract

U procesima učenja i poučavanja učenika s poremećajima autističnog spektra treba biti osigurano korištenje specifičnih strategija rada, programska i profesionalna podrška. Istraživanje je provedeno na uzorku od 15 učitelja i edukacijskih rehabilitatora u Varaždinskoj i Primorsko- goranskoj županiji kroz kvantitativnu i kvalitativnu metodu. U kvantitativnom dijelu istraživanja korišten je upitnik kojim su dobiveni rezultati o sociodemografski podaci o ispitanicima i učestalosti suradnje sa stručnim suradnicima. U kvalitativnom dijelu istraživanja prikazani su odgovori dobiveni u polustrukturiranom intervjuu i analizirani metodom tematske analize. Rezultati pokazuju da se u učenju i poučavanju učenika s poremećajima iz autističnog spektra učitelji i edukacijski rehabilitatori koriste brojne specifične strategije poučavanja. Istaknuli su važnost poznavanja i uvažavanja potreba učenika, stvaranje dobrog odnosa s učenikom, individualizirani pristup, metode izravnog poučavanja, vizualne pristupe, vizualna i tehnološka sredstva i pomagala te specifične edukacijsko- rehabilitacijske metode kao što je Floor time, ABA, Teacch i senzorna integracija. Ističe se i značaj suradnje učitelja sa pojedinim profilima stručnih suradnika, suradnja između različitih profila stručnih suradnika, kao i suradnja s ravnateljem.In a proces of learning and teaching of students with ASD it should be provided use specific strategies, curriculum adaptation and professional support. The study was conducted on a sample of 15 teachers and educational rehabilitators in Varaždin and Primorje-Gorski Kotar counties through quantitative and qualitative methods. In the quantitative part of the research, a questionnaire was used to obtain the results on the sociodemographic data on the respondents and the frequency of cooperation with expert associates. The qualitative part of the research presents the answers obtained in a semi-structured interview and analyzed by the thematic analysis method. The results show that a number of specific teaching strategies are used in the learning and teaching of students with autism spectrum disorders by teachers and educational rehabilitators. They emphasized the importance of knowing and appreciating the needs of the students, creating a good relationship with the student, an individualized approach, direct teaching methods, visual approaches, visual and technological tools and aids, and specific educational and rehabilitation methods such as Floor time, ABA, Teacch and sensory integration. The importance of teachers' cooperation with particular profiles of professional associates, cooperation between different profiles of professional associates, as well as cooperation with the principal, are also emphasized