“INCLUSIVE EDUCATION AND PEER INTERACTION: A CASE STUDY

OF A STUDENT WITH AUTISM DISORDER IN A REGULAR

CLASSROOM”

____________________

Title: “Inclusive Education and Peer Interaction: A Case Study of a Student with Autism

Disorder in a Regular Classroom”

I. INTRODUCTION

In the 21st Century Education, there has been a growing emphasis on inclusive

education, where those students with special needs can be in the same classroom as regular

students. This way, we can stop the stigma create a broader societal commitment, and ensure

equal educational opportunities for all students.

In studying the specific student whom I called “Student X”, I am only observing and

studying him from afar because when I asked the parent’s permission, his parents won’t allow

me to ask his son because it might “trigger” the child, based from what the mother said. As I

observed and based on what the other people around him (teachers, classmates, schoolmates,

and neighbors).

 .He is a kid with Autism Disorder

 He cannot control his locomotor skills.

 He wants to always be recognized even in a small thing like asking him to do a thing.

 Teachers have insufficient Training and Support.

 His parents tolerate him.

Integrating students with special needs into regular classroom settings contributes

positively and negatively to their academic progress and peer interaction. Dealing with this kind

of student needs more support and attention from their parents and commitment to thoroughly

understand the student.

II. BACKGROUND

A Student with Autism Disorder in a Regular Classroom

In our school, Concepcion Elementary School, there is a growing emphasis on inclusive

education, and a student with special needs are included in the regular classroom setting.

Among them is, “Student X”, a 10-year-old with special needs. Student X is intelligent but he

had a problem with his attitude and behavior toward his classmates, schoolmates, and even his

teachers. Student X experienced schooling in a Special Class Classroom but it got worse so the

parents decided to include him in a regular classroom setting with the regular student with the

thought that he became better.

The problem with Student X in the regular classroom is that he cannot control his

locomotor skills and emotions. He always disturbed his classmates by talking to them and

creating bad scenarios like punching and scratching. He likes loud noises and crowded places.

While in a teacher aspect, he intended to disturb the teacher while discussing by going out and

into the classroom without formal permission and he didn’t listen to what the teacher was going

to say.
Student X is an intelligent kid, he might not listen attentively to his teacher’s discussion

but if he answers the oral recitation, quizzes, and exams, he gets it perfectly or one or two

mistakes.

Another problem in this kind of situation is the support system, the parents. I have

studied his case by asking the old teachers, and the people around him. His parents always

tolerate his actions and doings. The parents thought that supporting what the kid was doing was

good for his situation but they did not think of the people around him. According to Merriam-

Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), inclusion is defined in the education sense as, "teaching

challenged children in regular classes, the practice of educating students with special needs in

regular classes for all or nearly all of the day, instead of in special education classes" (p. 630).

For educators, the term, inclusion, is seen as a more positive term used to describe efforts to

include students with special needs into the regular education classroom. "Inclusion can mean

welcoming children with disabilities into the curriculum, environment, social interaction, and self-

concept of the school" (Smith, 1998, p.18).

A persistent issue in the debate about the inclusion of students with special needs in

general education classrooms concerns whether the presence of students with special needs

has a negative effect on the academic growth of students without special needs, and on the

resources and instructional quality available to students without special needs (Galis & Tanner,

1995; Peck, Carlson, & Helmsetter, 1992; Peltier, 1997; York, 1995)

Jordan and Stanovich (2001) examined Canadian teachersʹ assumptions and beliefs

about inclusion, and how these related to the quality of teaching practices. They showed that, in

schools where teachers believed they had a responsibility to work with students with disabilities

included in their classrooms, the quality of instruction was higher. Such teachers were more

likely to use effective instructional strategies that engaged all their students, compared to

teachers without such beliefs. Those involved in the inclusion process must recognize that
inclusion not only affects the student who is being integrated, but also affects all other students

in the classroom (Baker, Wang, & Walberg, 2002)

This study is anchored on the Practical Theory of Marland and Osborne (1990), which

said that every teacher has his practical way in handling the classroom situation based on her

knowledge, values and experiences which are relevant to practical teaching. This characteristic

of a teacher is a strong determining factor in setting the context of the day-to-day instruction in

the teaching experiences. Inclusive education, according to the European Agency for

Development in Special Needs Education (2001), “depends on what teachers do in the

classroom. The way in which the teachers realize inclusion within classroom can take any

form.” The teacher as the major actor in the drama of education is believed to possess some

degree of essentials in the disposal of his service to the children of today.

III. ALTERNATIVES:

In addressing this situation of a student with Autism Disorder in a regular classroom,

there are some alternatives that I, teachers, and people around him should consider. As I have

observed and studied his situation, I have 3 alternatives that I should consider:

First, the Peer Support, alternative was rejected is it because not all of his classmates

and schoolmates could understand and support him. This student had a problem with his

emotions and control which is why most of his classmates and schoolmates don’t want to be

with him or to be connected with him. Another thing is, most kids nowadays, don’t have enough

knowledge about having special needs, they usually call it “buang”, “nay sakit sa utok” or

“maldito”. They are afraid that this specific student will hurt them eventually.

Second, Professional Development or Training for the teachers. Most of the Teachers in

our school don’t have enough knowledge on how to handle those students with special needs
especially if the problem is the behavior. As I have asked the advisers of this student from

Grade 2 to Grade 4, they usually said that they don’t have enough knowledge on how to handle

the situation because they don’t know the right way to handle the kid when it comes to his

behavior “baka daw maging insensitive sila”. Training our teachers about this kind of situation

will help them more aware and innovate effective teaching strategies that can greatly enhance

the classroom situation for the students with special needs and most especially for the teachers.

Lastly, Parental Involvement or Support. As I have collected information about the

background of this student, the parent is always a top-tier supporter but the problem with this

student, the parents are tolerating him in every aspect. The parents knew the disorder that their

son had, and they already put him in a special class or SPED but after a while, they observed

that their son’s behavior got worse. The only thing that they believe is their son will be okay if he

is within the regular classroom setting. This kind of parental support can lead to a worse

scenario.

Schools or those people in higher positions should think of this kind of scenario and

encourage parents to be actively involved in their child’s education and accept insights from the

people who have enough knowledge on what should be done and how the right thing to handle

this situation.

These alternatives are not possible at this time because we teachers don’t have enough

knowledge on the right way to handle this kind of student. Peers also don’t have enough

knowledge to understand that there are people who have this kind of situation and Parents are

closeminded, they do not allow themselves to accept an opinion or advice and they do not think

of what will happen in the future and those people around to their son.

IV. PROPOSED SOLUTION

unique. As a teacher that has a big possibility that I can handle a student with special needs in

the future, I should be aware of their cases and know how to handle their behavior in the right

way to help them feel that they belong even though they are different from other students and

people around them.

This is my proposed solution after I observed and studied the case of Student X.

Teacher’s awareness. Higher authorities should provide Teacher training and awareness about

this problem in order for the teachers to understand those students with special needs

especially those students who have Autism Disorder and for us teachers to implement an

effective teaching strategy. This training and awareness will help also our educational system to

create a more inclusive education and inclusive classroom environment.

As cited by Takahaski (2013) in his paper abstract on the Suggestions for a Teacher

Training Program for Inclusive Education in a Japanese University, he pointed out that general

education teachers are facing problems in relating to children with disabilities. Because of this,

he proposed to have a review of training programs for teachers in handling inclusive education

as well as reviewing some attachment theories focusing on teacher-child relationships.

The determination of appropriate educational practices used in public education schools

provided a variety of educational services to assist all students with special needs in learning to

their full potential. Inclusive education practices include well-known instructional approaches

such as explicit or direct instruction (cited by Miller, Manderfeld & Harsma, 2019).

Studies have demonstrated that the success of inclusion programmes depends mostly

on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and professional special education knowledge

(Sokal and Sharma 2017). Regrettably, even teachers who profess a positive attitude

towards inclusion cannot overcome the problems related to its implementation, due to
a lack of understanding of the issues involved and a lack of relevant teaching method-

ologies (Reiter 1999).

Studies have demonstrated that the success of inclusion programmes depends mostly

on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and professional special education knowledge

(Sokal and Sharma 2017). Regrettably, even teachers who profess a positive attitude

towards inclusion cannot overcome the problems related to its implementation, due to

a lack of understanding of the issues involved and a lack of relevant teaching method-

ologies (Reiter 1999).

Studies have demonstrated that the success of inclusion programmes depends mostly

on teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and professional special education knowledge

(Sokal and Sharma 2017). Regrettably, even teachers who profess a positive attitude

towards inclusion cannot overcome the problems related to its implementation, due to

a lack of understanding of the issues involved and a lack of relevant teaching method-

ologies (Reiter 1999).

Studies have demonstrated that the success of inclusion program es depends mostly on

teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and professional special education knowledge (Sokal and

Sharma 2017). Regrettably, even teachers who profess a positive attitude towards inclusion

cannot overcome the problems related to its implementation, due toa lack of understanding of

the issues involved and a lack of relevant teaching method-ologies (Reiter 1999). Consequently,

the research shows that teachers in inclusive class-rooms often express dissatisfaction with the

manner in which the educational system addresses their lack of special education knowledge

and teaching techniques. The feeling that they are left to deal with inclusion on their own with no

proper preparation is shared by many teachers from different countries, such as Hong Kong

(Lee et al.2015), Spain (Chiner and Cardona 2013), Japan (Yada and Savolainen 2017),

Croatia and Poland (Ćwirynkało et al. 2017) and Israel (Einat and Sharon 2015). A recent study

conducted by Lee et al. (2015) showed that mainstream preschool teachers tend to develop
less favorable attitudes towards inclusion than special education teachers, because their

training lacks practical pedagogy and does not increase teachers’ self-efficacy forteaching

students with special needs. Their findings correspond with a recent meta-review of research on

inclusive education (Van Mieghem et al., 2018), which concluded that these professional

development courses are vital for the successful implementation of inclusion education because

they provide effective pedagogical strategies and focus on changing attitudes and increasing

teachers’ self-efficacy and motivation to educate students with special needs. Research has

shown that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are essential for successful inclusive teaching

(Carroll, Forlin, and Jobling 2003; Sokal and Sharma 2014), whereas concerns about inclusion

are associated with negative outcomes (Vashishtha and Priya2013). Teachers’ attitudes

towards inclusion appear to be influenced by teacher-, student- and school-related variables

(Abegglen and Hessels 2018). Focusing on teacher-related variables, Vaz et al. (2015) found

that age, gender, teaching self-efficacy and training collectively explained 42% of the variance

in teachers’ attitude towards inclusion. Evidence from multiple countries suggests that while

most teachers approve of inclusion and show a high willingness to teach in inclusive

classrooms, many of them still question their ability to teach students with special needs (Chiner

and Cardona2013). In Israel, the research has shown that while 77.6% of Israeli teachers in

regular education were found to hold positive attitudes towards inclusion, less than 20% of them

expressed satisfaction with the amount of time available to them to implement inclusion, the

relevant professional training given them for this purpose, the relevant pedagogical resources

that were available to them and the professional support they received (Einatand Sharon 2015).

To be in a place where you are observing a student with Autism Disorder is a big thing.

This kind of situation should be addressed properly to give them proper treatment and can feel

belongingness without judging or bullying them like calling them “buang” or “abnormal”. It needs

more supportive, equitable, and inclusive education to help them develop their social skills,
academic, and most especially their emotional growth along with this is building good

interrelationship with their peers.

As I randomly asked Student X about why he is so hyper, and why he can’t control his

emotions, the only thing that he always says is “wala ko kabalo, ma’am”, “ing.ani najud ko

ma’am pero dili man ko bulok” which is true because despite of his behavior, he is one of the

top students from Kindergarten until Grade 3. As I asked his classmates, they always say

“ing.ana na gyyud na siya maa’am, sauna pa”, “murag nay daot sa utok kay dili kasabot

kasab.an”.

From the Teacher’s perspective, we already have a case where a teacher got stressed

or high blood because of this student which leads her to switch to another Grade Level because

she didn’t know how to manipulate or handle the kid.

V. RECOMMENDATION

To ensure the academic and social status or success of a student with Autism Disorder in a

Regular Classroom. Teachers, Parents, Peers, and the people around him should know how

unique and special they are. There are some essential strategies that we should know to help

them feel belong in this world.

If I have the right to create or help those students with Autism in a Regular Classroom, I

will first create a Clear Plan that includes a specific goal which is helping them to feel

comfortable and belong in the school. It included also a strategy where personalized to their

uniqueness and needs. In order to create a concrete plan, Teachers should have enough

knowledge and enough training to come up with concrete goals and strategies.
Second, Social skills training. Social Skills training is rampant and all people can learn

different social skills but those students with Autism Disorder, need to give more attention to

their social skills just as teach them how to make friends without hurting or being aggressive,

helping them engage in any conversations that help them understand that not all people are like

them and especially teaching them to control their emotions. It is like a therapy.

Lastly, collaboration and implementation of the Education For All which means that even

to those students with special needs. Activities, and community involvement in school, should

be for all where in every activity and community involvement, we should consider them always.

We should always join them when we are planning or making a goal. In this way, they can really

feel and the parents also feel that their child/children belong even in a regular classroom setting.

In these recommended ways, we are implementing the Education For All. We are helping

the students with special needs, parents, and Teachers. In students with special needs, we are

not just helping them in their social and academic success but also in their personal growth. We

are helping parents to raise and educate their child/children for their future endeavors. We are

helping the Teachers to be more aware and sensitive enough when it comes to this situation or

scenarios.

Every Student with Special Needs especially with Autism Disorder is unique. They have

their own needs and strengths, and what works for one may not work for another that is why

having concrete goals and strategies is essential to meet the changing needs of these students

in a regular classroom.

REFERENCES:

Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003)

Smith, S. (1998, p.18).

Jordan and Stanovich, (2001)

Baker, Wang, & Walberg (2002)

Marland and Osborne (1990), “Every Teachers has practical ways in handling in the classroom

situation.”

European Agency for Development in Special Needs Education (2001), “depends on what

teachers do in the classroom. The way in which the teachers realize inclusion within classroom

can take any form.”

Takahaski, (2013), “Suggestions for a Teacher Training Program for Inclusive Education in a

Japanese University.”

Miller, Manderfeld & Harsma, (2019), “Inclusive education practices include well-known

instructional approaches such as explicit or direct instruction.”

Sokal and Sharma, (2017), “Teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion and professional special

education knowledge.”

Hong Kong (Lee et al.2015), Spain (Chiner and Cardona 2013), Japan (Yada and Savolainen

2017), Croatia and Poland (Ćwirynkało et al. 2017) and Israel (Einat and Sharon 2015)

(Van Mieghem et al., 2018), “Recent meta-review of research on inclusive education.”

Vashishtha and Priya, (2013), “Inclusion are associated with Negative Outcomes.”

Einatand Sharon, (2015), “Pedagogical Resources towards Professional Support.”