Running head: INCLUSION WITH AUTISM: A LITERATURE SYNTHESIS

Inclusion with Autism: A Literature Synthesis

Susan Cho
University of St. Thomas

INCLUSION WITH AUTISM

After almost seventy years, autism is still a diagnosis with undefined causes. Being such
a diversified neurodevelopmental disorder without a specific origin, autism falls under a wide
spectrum. With time and more medical detections, physicians and parents are trying to find
antidotes and reformations for this wildly spreading disorder. Mainstreaming students with
autism is one of the fought arguments in public education. With more social media attention,
families are advocating the rights of their autistic children to be educated in regular classroom
setting (Bauer and Shea, 2003). After reading several articles on the topic of partial to full
inclusion of students of autism into general population classes sounds idyllic; there is lack of
sufficient scientific evidence to determine there being enough credibility to support this theory.
Diagnosis and Complexity of Autism
Autism is characterized by significant qualitative impairments in social interactions and
communication as well as restricted, repetitive and stereotypical patterns of behavior, interests
and activities (American Psychiatric Association, 2000). Individuals diagnosed with autism have
complex disorders of brain development. A common symptom of autism is disordered and
limited language skills. Individuals have trouble expressing emotions and ideas. Many are unable
to empathize higher levels of emotions through cause and effect, which becomes frustrating to
those who are trying to communicate to the individual.
However, unlike other diagnosis of special education, autism is not a one size fits all
label. Autism falls under a broad spectrum and has several variants of the disorder, ranging in
severity and functionality. In result, each child who has been identified with autism, depending
on the intensity of the childs autism; inclusion would not be an ideal learning environment (Lee
& Ousley, 2006).

INCLUSION WITH AUTISM

If a student of autism is to enter a mainstream classroom, both administration,

diagnostician, teacher, and parent must be able to specifically outline an individual education
plan, (IEP). Even more pertinent, the IEP must be correctly followed in lieu of the
accommodations; not just for the success of the autistic student, however for the mercy for
general education students and their academic success. In the process of any slight deviation, it
may be detrimental to the wellbeing of the classrooms learning environment (Vakil, Welton,
OConnor, & Kline, 2009).
Lee and Ousley researches the correlation of children identified with autism spectrum
disorder may also be affected with attention deficient hyperactivity disorder. Thus, in order to
test their thesis statement; a study of thirty students identified with attention deficient
hyperactivity disorder were conducted. The children were screened using a social aptitudes test
as well as a social communication questionnaire. Initially, the childrens IQ was tested and
grouped according to level using independent sample t-tests, while rating scale scores were
tested using the MannWhitney U-test. Furthermore, parents answered a Conners questionnaire
and Strengths and Difficulty questionnaire.
Positives to Inclusion
Partial inclusion and full inclusion increases expectations, models positive student
behaviors, allows more learning, self-esteem, and more accepting attitude from peers, and less
isolation and stigma for disabled students and their families (Mesibov & Shea, 1996). Inclusion
may teach students of autism the ability to learn social and adaptation skills. Being in the least
restrictive educational setting would allow students of autism to socialize and adapt amongst
peers. Inclusion also allows students of general education opportunities to learn more about
autism and tolerance to diversities.

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4
Insufficient Theoretical Research

Mesibov and Shea studies the lack thereof in the studies of students of autism and
inclusion. The authors thesis statement, As is too often in the case in education, the
philosophical movement for full inclusion has preceded systematic research on its assumptions
or effectiveness (p. 338), is reinforced throughout the peer-reviewed journal article. Even after
fifteen years at the present time when their article was written, only five significant literature
reviews were written. Any quantitative data provided in Mesibov and Shea was research based
not specifically based on students of autism, but students of handicap, such as mental retardation,
emotionally disturbed, learning disabilities, and slow learners with and IQ range of 75-90.
Mesibov and Shea does discuss non-quantitative research done by Strain (1983, 1984)
and his colleagues (Hoyson, Jamieson, & Strain, 1984; Strain, Hoyson, Jamieson, 1985), which
focused on observation of children with autism in pre-school and young elementary students. In
both instances, Strains group focused on the generalization of students of autism in segregation
and inclusion of academic and social settings in order to see if stimulation in sessions with
normally developed peers caused disconnections and/ or disruptive behaviors.
Although there is no quantitative data to reinforce the theory, Strains group concluded
children with autism worked better in an inclusion academic and social setting. Nonetheless,
credibility is weak due to the lack of consistent, quantitative evidence found at the end of studies.
The tools used to measure data were subjective and abstract, due to the method being interview
and naturalistic observations.
Being that autism is not only a newer disorder, but also having so many spectrums under
the diagnostic umbrella, majority of research and results appear underdeveloped. Moreover,
unsubstantial amount of gains have been made for rising demand of favoring inclusion in general

INCLUSION WITH AUTISM

education classrooms. In result, the deficiency will be incapable to meet the growing demands of
reforming the educational structure of servicing students with autism.

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6
References

American Psychiatric Association. (2000). Diagnosis and statistical manual of mental disorders
(4th ed.). Washington, DC.
Lee, D. O., & Ousley, O. Y. (2006). Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms in a clinic
sample of children and adolescents with pervasive developmental disorders. Journal of
Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 16(6), 737-46.
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/cap.2006.16.737
Mesibov, G., & Shea, V. (1996). Full inclusion and students with autism. Journal of Autism &
Developmental Disorders, 26(3), 337-346.
Vakil, S., Welton, E., OConnor, B., & Kline, L. (2009). Inclusion Means Everyone! The Role of
the Early Childhood Educator when Including Young Children with Autism in the
Classroom. Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(4), 321-326.