Ms. Marisol Rodríguez Gutiérrez, specialist in Psychology, together with Ms. Astrid Castells Tello, specialist in Pedagogy, with a Master’s degree in Psychopedagogy from the University of Barcelona, therapist specialized in educational needs and professor in the Faculty of Education of the degree in Pedagogy at the University of Barcelona, have elaborated this article on the educational inclusion of students with Autism Spectrum Disorder in the regular classroom.
Educational inclusion currently represents one of the greatest challenges for educational systems. This term has recently become very popular thanks to the media, but it is essential to know the real meaning of educational inclusion in order to carry out a quality teaching practice.
If we look at UNESCO’s definition (2005), inclusive education is a process to identify and respond to the needs of all students by offering them greater involvement and participation in their learning processes and reducing exclusion. In order to carry out its application, we need to make modifications in the contents and methodologies used in the classroom. Likewise, we must place special emphasis on equal opportunities, highlighting the human right of all children to receive a quality education, regardless of their social rank, gender and age.
Inclusion policies in the classroom
Taking into account this meaning of inclusion, different policies have been implemented that highlight the importance of modifying the educational parameters of teaching, organization and management in the classroom.
- Ainscow (2005) has highlighted the fact of changing the way of managing information in the classroom and, consequently, also changing the way of evaluating educational practice and school performance. Thus, little by little, a greater number of students with special educational needs have been incorporated into multiple spaces of regular education.
We are currently seeking to eliminate discriminatory attitudes among students in regular classrooms, thus promoting a positive coexistence by learning from the particularities of each student and adding capabilities. For all this to be possible, teaching practice must provide an effective response to school and out-of-school pedagogical contexts, offering equal opportunities to all children, regardless of their personal characteristics.
- Training in educational inclusion in universities is also very important. Following Slee (2001), cultural studies and contemporary learning theories such as constructivism have been incorporated, which favor the shared construction of new methodologies to attend to students in an adjusted and inclusive manner.
Objectives of inclusive education
Inclusive education aims to facilitate access to learning for all children, regardless of their particularities. From an inclusive perspective, it is essential to identify the barriers that hinder children’s learning and participation.
For example, a student with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), with deficits in communication and social interaction, with restrictive and repetitive patterns of behavior, it can be very useful to learn to use an Augmentative or Alternative Communication System (AACS) and to mark the activities to be performed during the school day by means of a visual schedule.
The visual schedule is very useful not only for the student with SEN, but also for the rest of the students, since it helps them to know the order of the activities to be carried out throughout the day. It should also be noted that the use of a SAAC helps the student with ASD to be able to communicate not only with teachers, but also with their peers.
It is very useful to teach how to use the SAAC to all students, since often the teacher changes from year to year but the class group remains together and the student with ASD can continue to communicate with their peers and they can teach the operation to new teachers.
For all this, it is essential for schools to carry out a progressive change in the educational culture that also affects the attitudes, values and accessibility of the center. In the same way, changes are also needed in educational policies, which take into account the diversity of learning rhythms and styles and, at the same time, the special educational needs of students.