In Parents’ Voices

Abstract

Parents of 144 children with autism spectrum disorders were surveyed regarding their perceptions of and satisfaction with the education their children were receiving. This article focuses on an analysis of the parents’ responses to the open-ended questions of this survey. Overall themes that emerged repeatedly across all questions concerned the ability of school personnel to effectively manage children’s behavior, teacher education and understanding of the disability, and effective communication and collaboration between parents and school. The implications for future research and practice emerging from these findings are discussed.