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Chapter 9 - Parents and community partnerships in educating children with ASD as an Inclusive Education strategy

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Summary

Abstract

The ancient African adage that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’ has special relevance for this chapter. My discussion highlights parent and community partnerships as essential for educating children with ASD. In traditional African communities, children belong to the communities in which they are born and raised. Parents are responsible for participating in their children's development, especially in terms of moral development. Drawing on community partnerships may therefore be a viable strategy for providing access to quality education for children with ASD as well as Inclusive Inclusive Education For All children. My systematic evaluation of community outreach programmes leads me to suggest that failure to involve parents and community members would undermine the meaningful implementation of Inclusive Education. Furthermore, I provide suggestions that could strengthen relationships and result in more meaningful and effective partnerships. In particular, I consider how community and school-based management capacity could be enhanced through committees, parent-teacher-associations and school governing bodies. These structures should play an active role in establishing, implementing and monitoring programmes that promote quality Education For All children, including children with ASD. This approach advocates for valuing the social capital of parents and the community, since Inclusive Education is fundamental to social justice. The approach further acknowledges the complexity of providing support to children with ASD and recommends a multipronged strategy that is affordable and sustainable. When teachers feel supported by parents and the community, their confidence and commitment increase.

Introduction

Most teachers experience challenges in educating learners with additional needs, including those with ASD because they have not received any training to teach such children. They are often not able to cope with children with any perceived social, emotional, cultural, intellectual or linguistic difference or disability (Florian, Young & Rouse, 2010). As a result, they often feel overwhelmed by the challenges that learners with additional needs bring into their classrooms. This feeling of despondency affects their social agency for social justice. Therefore, there is a need for concerted efforts from the ´tripartite alliance´ of parents, community members and teachers to teach children with additional needs. Otherwise, the task of educating these children may be overwhelming (Goudie, Havercamp, Ranbom & Jamieson, 2011).

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Autism
Perspectives from Africa Volume 1
, pp. 119 - 126
Publisher: University of South Africa
Print publication year: 2020

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