An Examination of Autism and Inclusion Knowledge in a Sample of New York Educators

Educators are highly likely to serve students with autism in general education environments, and previous research has suggested insufficient autism knowledge and low levels of self-efficacy among educators. This study examined educator autism knowledge and self-efficacy in a sample of 385 New York educators to assess current autism knowledge in this population and to examine how knowledge and self-efficacy predict teacher knowledge of evidence-based practices for supporting students with autism in inclusive environments on an open-ended vignette task. Autism knowledge and self-efficacy were high in this sample and were positively related to the number of evidence-based practices nominated. Next steps are shared for assessing implementation of evidence-based strategies and identifying training needs related to teaching students with autism in inclusive settings.