The Role of Teachers in Developing Participation of Autistic Children with Special Needs in Inclusive Schools

Abstract

Inclusive education is a new perception in the field of education in Indonesia in providing
educational services for all students, including children with special needs. Several elementary
schools already have educational equality for children with special needs to place them with
regular children who are accompanied by special assistant teachers. The purpose of the study
was to explain the role of teachers as an effort to develop the participation of children with special
needs, especially autistic children in the learning process in regular classes. Qualitative methods
were used with a case study design, which aims to understand social phenomena descriptively.
Data collection was carried out by direct observation of learning and interviews with homeroom
teachers and special assistant teachers for autistic children. The results of the study explained
that every child with special needs in a regular class is supervised by a designated assistant
teacher. In the context of inclusive schools, assistant teachers play a role in adjusting lessons in
class according to the needs of inclusive children, as well as providing assessments based on the
child's abilities. Other efforts made include holding competitions with children with special needs
as participants, to increase their participation. Therefore, support from the government,
educational institutions, and the wider community is needed to achieve the goals of inclusive
education.
Keywords: Autistic Children, Student Participation, Learning