Teacher Training: Challenges Facing the Schooling of Students with ASD

Abstract

The global movement for inclusive education has driven an increase in enrollments of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in the regular school system, bringing difficulties in their schooling, often related to the specificities of the disorder. It is admitted that the obstacles related to the effectiveness of these students' learning may be related, among other factors, to teachers' lack of knowledge about the characteristics of the disorder, in identifying the potential of these students, with the relative lack of research related to teacher training on ASD, to the limited dissemination of the results of research already carried out and to the reported difficulty in applying existing evidence. In view of this, this research aimed to increase the visibility of knowledge that links teacher training and work with students diagnosed with ASD, with an emphasis on the difficulties expressed by teachers. To this end, a bibliographic review was carried out, where the eligibility criteria for the bibliographic material were national research that related teacher training and ASD, and the survey of the main difficulties teachers face when working with these students. Eight scientific articles were selected from the Capes portal database for the period from 2013 to 2023. From the results it was possible to verify that although the research supports convergence in highlighting the importance of teacher training and specific pedagogical approaches, there are restrictions in the instructional scope, as well as in the presentation of evidence, on how such training could be carried out reconciling such pedagogical guidelines, especially in the context of learning of students diagnosed with ASD.