Predictors and mediators of European student teacher attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder

The world is rapidly changing, and within the context of teacher education, this generates questions regarding what student teachers will need in their future profession, and how teacher educators can provide this. Prevalence of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is also reported to be rising worldwide and is currently estimated to be 1 in 100 (Autism Europe, 2016). Student teachers are therefore likely to encounter pupils with ASD during their practical placements, and later as qualified professionals in institutions which increasingly follow the principle of‘inclusive education’. Thus, teacher education needs to prepare student teachers appropriately to enable them to teach children with ASD successfully in an inclusive classroom. Studies have shown that people express more negative attitudes toward ASD than some other disabilities (e.g. physical impairment or learning disabilities; Huskin, Reiser-Robbins,& Kwon,2018), which makes it crucial to understand how to facilitate positive attitudes toward ASD in particular. However, there is a dearth of research on student teachers’ attitudes toward ASD (Barned, Flanagan Knapp,& Neuharth-Pritchett,2011). Previous research, such as that undertaken by Caplan,Feldman, Eisenhower, and Blacher (2016) also found that teacher attitudes are important factors in determining whether teachers include pupils with ASD. Such studies were therefore considered supportive of the purpose for this research study.