Knowledge and attitudes of primary school teachers regarding autism of school age children

Aim: Autism is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by difficulty or weakness in social communication and restrictive behavior patterns. Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) were first described in 1943. In addition to early diagnosis and intervention, teachers play a substantial and essential role in the early social environment of a child with ASD. This study aims to find out what classroom teachers know and how they feel about students with autism, as well as how they see those students. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted from April to November 2022 in 20 Samawah, southern Iraq primary schools. The study included a suitable sample of 218 teachers using the G.Power program, with the ages of the majority of the participants between 25 and 35 years old, males and females. A specially designed questionnaire was used to collect data, which included teachers' sociodemographic characteristics and other questions related to knowledge and teachers' attitudes toward children with autism in elementary school. Face-to-face questioning was used to collect data, and SPSS (25) software was used for data entry and analysis. Results: The results showed that the study included 153 males and 65 females, and among 218 teachers, 41.7 percent had a medium knowledge degree, and 40.8 percent had high levels of awareness of autism. However, there was no statistically significant correlation between degrees of awareness and demographic information, p-value = greater than 0.05, except for the type of exposure to exceptional children, which found a significant p-value = 0.001. This study showed that only 45.4 percent of the teachers have average attitudes, while 43.6 percent have good attitudes toward dealing with children with autism. Conclusion: Teachers have a moderate to excellent understanding and attitude toward children with autism in their classrooms. There is no statistically significant relationship between trainers' expertise and demographic data. Training programs for teachers before and during their service can help them learn more about autism and change how they feel about it.