Educational Success for Australian Autistic Students: Teacher, Parent and Allied Health Perspectives on Strengths, Needs, Enablers and Barriers

Parents/caregivers, educators, and allied health professionals are key stakeholders in supporting positive educational outcomes for autistic students. However, limited research has explored differences in their perspectives regarding the strengths, needs, enablers, and barriers to educational success for autistic students which was the aim of this study. This knowledge is important for fostering collaboration to optimally support autistic students. Participants included 133 Australians parents/caregivers (n = 64), educators (n = 37), and allied health professionals (n = 32) who completed an open-ended online survey listing their top three educational strengths, educational needs, barriers, and enablers for autistic students. Data were analysed using conventional content analysis for each of the four areas (strengths, needs, enablers, and barriers). Analysis identified that strengths included thinking and reasoning, personality, skills and talents, academic, and social. Needs included classroom accommodations, social-emotional, academic, adaptive behaviour, and mental health supports. Enablers and barriers commonly reflected the presence or absence of supports, including support networks, environmental supports, autism knowledge, and supportive attitudes. While commonalities were observed across stakeholder perspectives, significant variation both within and across stakeholder groups was observed for perceived strengths and challenges including around the importance of environmental factors, foci of social support, and academic needs. Understanding stakeholder perspectives is essential for providing multidimensional support to autistic students. Understanding can inform professional learning and support collaborative multidisciplinary teams who work with, and care for, the same individual across contexts including school, home, and therapy services.