Many teachers and learning support educators (LSEs) are struggling to support children with autism in mainstream schools due to a lack of training and specialist input, a new doctoral study has found.
Behaviour analyst Natasha Attard found teachers do not have the tools to cope with children with autism.
The research, carried out by behaviour analyst Natasha Attard, highlights a widespread sense of anxiety and helplessness among both educators and parents, as well as a gap between inclusion policy and practice.
Attard’s findings are based on three separate studies, involving over 170 participants, including teachers, LSEs, parents and children.
Together they paint a picture of a school system where staff feel unprepared, families feel unheard and pupils with autism are being left behind.
One teacher, supporting a child with autism in a mainstream classroom, told researchers that she felt “not good enough” to meet his needs. Another would call a pupil’s mother in tears, saying she was unable to cope with his behaviour.
One LSE interviewed said she wished she was better trained to “be able to provide those children in my care who have autism a better school experience”.
Attard said there is a gap between theory and practice.
“We don’t lack ideas, we lack implementation,” she said.
Her recently completed research was carried out with Queen’s University, Belfast, following the award of a Tertiary Education Scholarship Scheme.
Her dissertation, entitled ‘The Effectiveness of Behaviour Analytic Programmes for Autistic Children within an Inclusive Mainstream Primary School Setting’, found that even as mainstream schools become more inclusive in paper, they often lack the tools to deliver real results.
Staff and parents under strain
The first of the studies gathered response from 100 teachers and LSEs who work in Maltese mainstream settings and support autistic children.
While 75% said they felt knowledgeable about autism, only a quarter were confident adapting classroom material for their autistic pupils.
Just 30% said their initial teacher training had prepared them for inclusive classrooms. More than 70% said they often worried that autistic pupils were not making progress towards their individual education targets. And 64% said they felt anxious or overwhelmed in their roles.
When asked about alternatives, 78% of respondents backed a model that would combine time in mainstream classrooms with part-time withdrawal for specialist support.
The second study, carried out by Attard and Nichola Booth in 2023 and published in the International Journal of Educational Research, gathered views from 72 parents of autistic children.
Only 40% said they felt confident that teachers were well informed about autism. Almost 60% disagreed that teachers had the necessary knowledge to support their children.
Anxiety was widespread, with 93.5% of participants reporting having felt anxious at some point about their child’s schooling. Nearly half said they usually or always felt this way. Some 92% had concerns about their children meeting academic targets.
Targeted support showed improvement
The third strand of the research explored whether specialist behavioural support could make a difference. Attard trialled a mix of Applied Behaviour Analysis and Positive Behaviour Support with four autistic pupils aged seven and eight.
Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) is a scientific approach to understanding and changing behaviour by observing how it is influenced by the environment – with Positive Behaviour Support (PBS), a person-centred approach that improves quality of life by understanding why challenging behaviours happen and teaching positive skills in supportive environments.
Each child, along with their LSE, received a tailored programme developed and supervised by behavioural specialists across an academic year.
The results showed marked improvements. One student’s challenging behaviour decreased by 93%, while another pupil who had been biting her teacher multiple times a day reduced this by 62% and began to show stronger communication and task completion.
“The results were very positive,” Attard said. “Autistic learners not only made gains in communication and engagement, but also showed a reduction in behaviours that challenge, all while remaining an integral part of the school environment.”
Inclusion in name, but not in practice
According to national statistics, 1,998 autistic students were given a statement of need and individual support in mainstream schools in 2022. In 2023, more than 4,200 children were being supported by LSEs.
Attard said this shows “the commitment to inclusion in mainstream schools”, one of the highest in Europe.
“Yet, many autistic learners continue to struggle in silence or, worse, are not making socially valid progress, not because they can’t learn, but because our systems aren’t equipped with the specialist behavioural input to support them,” Attard said.
“Teachers are overwhelmed. LSEs often receive minimal training. Behaviour analysts, professionals trained to support communication, learning and behaviour are not part of the team. The result? Children who could thrive are instead labelled, managed or removed. This is not a failure of the educators, it’s a call to adjust our systems to make space for children whose behaviours present as a challenge to the extent that their right to education access is at risk,” she said.
