Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...

<strong>in</strong>tegration benefits of <strong>in</strong>clusion for students
with autism. Several issues are raised <strong>in</strong> this
study, which may guide future researchers <strong>in</strong>
this area. One limitation of this study is the
small sample size <strong>and</strong> limited variation among
the students with autism who participated <strong>in</strong>
the study. Future studies <strong>in</strong>volv<strong>in</strong>g a larger
number of students with autism might yield
more statistically significant results. Also, students
with autism from an ethnic group other
than Anglo as well as who are female need to
be <strong>in</strong>cluded <strong>in</strong> future studies <strong>in</strong> order for
f<strong>in</strong>d<strong>in</strong>gs to be more generalizeable.
Future researchers would be wise also to
consider several other potential factors that
may contribute to social <strong>in</strong>tegration. This
study exam<strong>in</strong>ed the severity of autism characteristics.
However, particularly because these
did not produce a significant difference, other
factors may contribute to social <strong>in</strong>tegration
<strong>and</strong> need to be exam<strong>in</strong>ed. For example, a
variety of studies have found that specific
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of certa<strong>in</strong> peers with<strong>in</strong> a class can aid
<strong>in</strong> the social <strong>in</strong>tegration of a student with autism
(Brady, Shores, McEvoy, Ellis, & Fox,
1987; Mundschenk & Sasso, 1995), <strong>and</strong> often
leads to greater acceptance of this student by
the tra<strong>in</strong>ed peers (Garrison-Harrell et al.,
1997). Future research should <strong>in</strong>vestigate the
role peer tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g plays <strong>in</strong> the acceptance of
students with disabilities <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>clusive classrooms.
Also, the role that paraeducators play
<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>clusive classrooms has been subject of
recent research. One study found that proximity
of the paraeducator to the student with
the disability can contribute to separation
from classmates, dependence on adults, loss
of gender identity, <strong>and</strong> can create a social
barrier aga<strong>in</strong>st peer <strong>in</strong>teractions (Giangreco,
Luiselli, & MacFarl<strong>and</strong>, 1997). In a similar
study, researchers found that <strong>in</strong>structional assistants
considered themselves primarily responsible
for so much of the education of the
student with a disability that it necessitated
their be<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> constant close proximity to the
student (Marks, Schrader, & Lev<strong>in</strong>e, 1999).
These studies highlight the need for future
<strong>in</strong>vestigations exam<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g the role of paraeducators,
<strong>and</strong> the possible factor of proximity, <strong>in</strong>
acceptance of students with disabilities <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>clusive
classrooms. Also, such factors as
amount of time <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>clusion, philosophy <strong>and</strong>
tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g of teachers, <strong>and</strong> demographic <strong>in</strong>formation
such as gender, race <strong>and</strong> age may
22 / <strong>Education</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Tra<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>g</strong> <strong>in</strong> <strong>Developmental</strong> <strong>Disabilities</strong>-March 2005
contribute to social <strong>in</strong>tegration of students
with autism <strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>clusive sett<strong>in</strong>gs <strong>and</strong> should be
targeted <strong>in</strong> future studies. F<strong>in</strong>ally, future researchers
should <strong>in</strong>vestigate students with
more varied <strong>and</strong> severe autism characteristics.
Further research is needed to both dispel
the myth that students with low <strong>in</strong>cidence disabilities
cannot be successfully <strong>in</strong>tegrated socially
<strong>in</strong>to an <strong>in</strong>clusion classroom <strong>and</strong> to identify
those factors that will make their
<strong>in</strong>tegration more successful.
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