Views of professionals about the educational needs of children with neurodevelopmental disorders.
School staff recognize broad labels but overlook fine-grain, diagnosis-specific educational needs—train them on the hidden traits.
01Research in Context
What this study did
Black et al. (2019) asked 138 school staff about kids with autism, Down syndrome, and Williams syndrome. They used a 30-item survey covering learning, social, and behavior needs.
The team wanted to know: do teachers spot the hidden, syndrome-specific struggles, not just the obvious ones?
What they found
Staff nailed the big traits—like autism social gaps or Down syndrome slow speech. They missed fine-grain needs, such as Williams syndrome anxiety or autism sensory quirks.
Even when they saw a need, they named fewer specialist supports. Most said, “We need more training.”
How this fits with other research
Falcomata et al. (2012) saw the same blind spot in mental-health staff serving dual-diagnosis clients. Both papers end with the same fix: better training.
Farmer (2012) warned that syndrome-specific teaching plans barely exist. Jo’s data now show teachers can’t pick the subtle traits that would guide such plans.
Izawa et al. (2012) found autistic kids lean on proprioception when learning motor skills—exactly the kind of hidden need Jo’s teachers overlooked.
Why it matters
If staff miss quiet, diagnosis-specific issues, IEP goals stay generic and kids plateau. Use Jo’s 30-item list as a quick staff self-check, then plug training holes with syndrome-focused modules. You’ll turn “I think I see autism” into “I know this learner needs visual structure plus sensory breaks.”
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02At a glance
03Original abstract
BACKGROUND: Professionals play a key role in supporting children with special educational needs in schools. However, the views of those working with neurodevelopmental disorders are less known. AIMS: This study examined the views of professionals (including teachers, teaching assistants, educational psychologists, speech and language therapists, physio and occupational therapists etc.) working with children with Williams Syndrome (WS), Down Syndrome (DS) or with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in terms of how informed professionals are about the disorder and their views about the type of support these children need to be receiving. METHODS AND PROCEDURES: Professionals working with 77 children with ASD, 26 with DS and 38 with WS completed an online questionnaire. OUTCOMES AND RESULTS: Professionals in all three groups highlighted relevant areas of difficulty for these children, but they did not recognise some of the less phenotypical difficulties that children with a specific disorder may experience. In addition, there was a disconnect between the difficulties identified by the professionals and the type of specialist support that may be necessary. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Although professionals have a lot of knowledge about the specific neurodevelopmental disorders, further evidence-based training would allow more effective support for children with neurodevelopmental disorders in the classroom but also equip professionals better and raise their confidence in meeting these children's needs.
Research in developmental disabilities, 2019 · doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2019.05.001