A Critical Analysis of how Teachers Accommodate Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders in Zimbabwean Mainstream Primary Schools: An ethnographic study of Reigate District in Bulawayo Metropolitan province

This qualitative study used ethnographic design (participant observation in conjunction with in-depth interviews) with purposive sampling method guided by the theoretical framework of Bronfenbrenner’s social ecological systems theory to closely analyze how teachers accommodate children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in Zimbabwean mainstream primary schools. In-depth interviews with observations of 20 participants were used in this study. The study revealed that primary school teachers used aversive stimulus such as punishment, harsh or fame rebuke and sharp disapproval or criticism of autistic behaviour as a way of accommodating and controlling autistic children’s repetitive behaviours such as hand-flapping, rocking, jumping, spinning or twirling and complex body movements during the mainstream lesson. This study also revealed that lack of psychological knowledge to deal with autistic children, lack of teaching strategies, Autism learners’ social impairment, ASD learners’ communication or personal expression difficulty, inattentive and hyperactive behaviors, autistic children’s behavioral disorders, large class sizes and lack of appropriate resources were the teachers’ challenges in the teaching of children with ASD in mainstream primary schools. The study recommended that there is need for the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education to ensure that teachers are adequately trained, developed and equipped with psychological knowledge and skills to deal with autistic children. There is need for the provision of school psychologists as a supportive way of stabilizing teachers’ perceptions in the teaching of children with ASD in regular classes and to emphasize the use of Teaching Assistants in the classroom to promote effective teaching of children with ASD. Finally, the study recommended that ASD pedagogy model, as a teaching device, should be researched and designed to promote effective teaching of children with ASD in mainstream.