Abstract:The economic burden of families with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) children that are far beyond the needs of typical children causes physical and mental stress for their parents. The study aims to examine the economic burden of parents with ASD children in Malaysia. Calculation is made using a cost-loss approach due to ASD that include direct, indirect and developmental costs. Using convenient sampling method, a total of 245 parents have filled out questionnaires through online or hard copies. Development costs represent the highest cost of RM20,989.33, followed by medical direct costs RM8,378.73, RM5,033.57 for non-medical direct costs and RM963.99 for indirect costs. The total cost of financing an ASD child is RM35,365.62 a year. This is a huge and burdensome amount for parents. The findings of this study may assist responsible parties in the planning of effective service provision to suit the need of parents with ASD children in Malaysia.

One of the most important elements in supporting inclusive education has been shown to be pre-service teacher preparation. 469 pre-service teachers from a teacher education institute in northern Malaysia, representing a variety of genders and courses, participated in this study. Their responses were based on their attitudes and knowledge regarding the inclusive education of special educational needs students (SENS). With a mean score of 6.74, the findings indicated that the respondents' knowledge about SENS inclusive education was at a moderate level. Meanwhile, pre-service teachers shows high level of attitude toward SENS inclusive education with mean score of 8.48. Regarding the gender inequalities in pre-service teachers' attitudes and understanding of SENS inclusive education in the north, it was discovered that men pre-service teachers had more knowledge than female pre-service teachers. The results of the Tukey HSD post hoc test revealed a significant difference in the mean knowledge between the special education course group, which had a mean score of 7.9967 compared to other course groups, which had a score of 7 and lower (p = 0.000). This indicates that compared to other pre-service course teachers, special education pre-service teachers have higher knowledge and attitudes as a result of their training.

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