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Publication Date

2022-05-04

First Advisor

Shannon Audley

Document Type

Honors Project

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Education and Child Study

Keywords

autism, teachers' beliefs and practice, cultural competence, case study, China

Abstract

Over the past 15 years, there has been a substantial increase in Chinese governmental support, addressing the needs of children with disabilities, especially children with autism. However, educational opportunities remain limited for the children. This paper describes the confluence of policy and societal/cultural beliefs on teaching Chinese children with autism. Utilizing a case study approach of a rehabilitation center in Shenzhen, China, the paper examines the teachers’ personal beliefs as influenced by socio-cultural factors in teaching children with autism who enrolled in the transition to mainstream elementary schools program. This paper then investigates how these beliefs affect the teaching of the children both in applying ABA-based interventions and in classroom design through the triangulation of observation, artifacts, official documents, and teacher interviews. Results acknowledged that the program needs improvement to prepare mainstream education for children with autism due to inadequate teacher training, insufficient professional knowledge on ABA-based interventions, and classroom design, underlying the long-existing socio-cultural beliefs on children with autism. The paper concludes with recommendations for areas to be addressed and improved when supporting children with autism transit to mainstream schools, such as extending professional training, enhancing public knowledge on autism, rethinking traditional values in creative ways, and improving support systems for educators.

Rights

©2022 Xiyu Wan. Access limited to the Smith College community and other researchers while on campus. Smith College community members also may access from off-campus using a Smith College log-in. Other off-campus researchers may request a copy through Interlibrary Loan for personal use.

Language

English

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