A Training Programme for a Teacher Working with a Student with ASD: An Action Research

Abstract

The qualifications of the educators who teach children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) may affect the outputs of the education. Qualified educators play an important role in skill development. Therefore, educators need to have special qualifications. Within this scope, it is important to organize well-designed training programs for the educators which aims enabling them to gain the skills and the knowledge specific to autism. In this action research, the problems of the educators working with children with ASD are described, with an aim to solve these problems and to provide training for meeting such needs and to analyze the results. Research data were collected through a variety of methods including observations, meetings, interviews, researcher reflections and artifacts. The data were analyzed via inductive analysis. The findings are interpreted into seven themes as follows: Teaching problems, behavioral problems, dealing with teaching and behavioral problems, educational needs, educational practices aimed at solving the existing problems and meeting the needs and changes in the process of implementation, changes in the performances of the participants, opinions of the participants on educational practices. Findings reveal that the participants did benefit from the educational practices offered. All findings are discussed in parallel with the relevant literature.