What parents say about inclusion and disabilities: implications for young children’s attitude development toward peers with disabilities

Analysis of Spanish Parents’ Knowledge about ASD and Their Attitudes towards Inclusive Education

“…We found that the ASD-FAM group has positive attitudes towards the inclusion of children with ASD in the mainstream schooling system. Their attitudes are more favorable than those of parents of children with typical development, coinciding with some previous studies [ 8 , 33 , 34 ]. These results are not surprising because ASD-FAM are interested in creating an inclusive society where their children are not held back and can develop their skills [ 29 , 33 , 34 , 35 ].…”

“…On the other hand, some families show positive attitudes towards inclusion as a way to improve the behavioral, social, and language skills of their children with ASD [ 29 , 33 , 34 , 35 ]. Some previous research involving parents of children with disabilities also confirmed that inclusion can benefit the development of children with any kind of diagnosis [ 8 , 33 , 34 ].…”

“…Although ASD rates are quite high, and many people probably have a connection to ASD, either personally, in educational environments, or even in the workplace [ 3 ], stigma can still occur [ 4 , 5 , 6 ]. In educational settings, children with challenging behaviors, as in ASD, are less likely to be accepted by their typically developing peers [ 5 , 7 , 8 ].…”

“…In contrast, other parents find negative consequences when including children with ASD or other kinds of disability with their neurotypical children in mainstream schools. These parents are concerned about possible negative effects on their children’s education [ 8 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 42 ], such as imitating misbehaviors [ 42 , 43 ], lack of individual attention from the teacher in the inclusive classroom [ 31 ], worse grades [ 44 ], or lack of good classroom management [ 36 , 43 ].…”

Inclusive Socialization? The Relationships between Parents’ and Their Child’s Attitudes toward Students with Disabilities

“…However, not only is the number of studies that empirically tested the relationships between fathers’ and mothers’ attitudes and their child’s attitudes toward students with disabilities small, but those that did address this topic found mixed results. Where some studies [ 3 , 24 ] found that children of parents with positive attitudes toward inclusion were more welcoming toward peers with disabilities, other studies failed to repeat this finding [ 10 , 25 , 26 ]. Hence, various explanations have been suggested to outline under what terms parental impact could exist.…”