Social inclusion and ASD 11affection from their children and failing to make a good connection with them
(Bettelheim, 1967). In 1998, British former surgeon and medical researcher Andrew
Wakefield published, in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, a paper in sup-
port of the claim that there existed a link between administration of the measles,
mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine and the onset of Autism. Following his claim,
numerous large-scale studies were undertaken in an attempt to validate his find-
ings. None were able to reproduce his findings or confirm his hypothesis. Claims
were made that Wakefield had manipulated evidence and his paper was retracted
in 2010. A number of studies have ruled out any link between vaccines and Autism
(e.g., DeStefano, Price and Weintraub, 2013; Price et al., 2010) but doubt remains,
with skeptic groups maintaining there is a link between Autism and vaccination.
Research continues to search for a cause.
Thirdly, Autism is a lifelong, pervasive developmental disorder with no cure.
Since Kanner’s original description, society has learnt a great deal about Autism.
Dodd (2005) acknowledges, “In the past twenty years in particular, there have been
remarkable developments in our knowledge of what Autism is, why it happens, and
how it should be treated” (p. vii). Education for all is therefore central to under-
standing Autism and for supporting the individual diagnosed with this disorder.
The prevalence of persons diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder con-
tinues to rise. In the United States, figures from the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2009, “an average of 10 in 1000 children
aged 3 to 17 years were diagnosed with Autism, and in 2012, 1 in 88 children were
estimated to be diagnosed with ASDs” (Graff, Berkeley, Evmenova, and Park, 2014,
p. 158). In Australia, the 2012 Survey of Disability, Ageing and Carers (SDAC)
“showed an estimated 115,400 Australians (0.5 per cent) had Autism. This was a 79
per cent increase on the 64,400 people estimated to have the condition in 2009”
(ABS, 2014, p. 2). Consistent with overseas estimates, the prevalence rate was four
times higher for males than for females, with prevalence peaking in the five to nine
year age group.
Inclusion in education
In the past, students with Autism Spectrum Disorder tended to be segregated from
their peers. The trend in education now appears to be an increasing movement
towards educating all students with disabilities in regular education settings and/or
classrooms. The term ‘regular education’ can be interchanged with ‘mainstream’ in
the discussion of class placement options for students.
The literature surrounding inclusion describes the challenges faced by schools,
teachers and students when implementing inclusive practice (Greenstein, 2014;
Malinen, Savolainene and Xu, 2012). Teachers continue to have limited belief in
their preparedness to support students with special education needs both gener-
ally (Swain, Nordness and Leader-Janssen, 2012), and for students with an Autism
Spectrum Disorder (Humphrey and Symes, 2013; Lindsay, Proulx, Thomson and
Scott, 2013).