Online ISSN: 2325-7466
2006
Triannual
National Association of Special Education Teachers (NASET)
United States

Articles

Perspective Taking Through Film: Educating Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers About Autism

  • Jacqueline P. Kelleher (Author) Sacred Heart University image/svg+xml
    Dr. Jacqueline Kelleher began teaching in the Isabelle Farrington College of Education at Sacred Heart University in January 2010. She serves as program director for the college’s special education program. Additionally, she brings over eighteen years of experience in public schools and university settings in the areas related to special education policy, learning strategies, classroom and large scale assessment, measurement, evaluation, instructional design, service learning pedagogy, and autism program development. Before coming to SHU, Dr. Kelleher served as a state education consultant with the Connecticut State Department of Education, specializing in the areas of autism and general supervision monitoring of 170 local education agencies. Dhr. K elleher as led dozens of evaluation studies and comprehensive needs assessments for and with K-12 districts and nonprofit organizations across the country as a consultant or as part of her service commitment to the field. Dr. Kelleher is the parent of four, including identical twins with autism. The family enjoys filmmaking and providing outreach to other families facing similar joys and challenges raising children with disabilities.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.276
Abstract
When it comes to educating students with autism in the classroom, teachers’ perceptions and attitudes toward inclusion are essential. Professional development that enhances perspective taking about autism is powerful if it leads to depth of understanding and action. Instructional media can play a role in raising viewer awareness; unfortunately, there are significant difficulties locating appropriate media concerning autism spectrum disorders (ASD) for developing teacher perspective taking skills. A film was developed for this project that shows a first person perspective of a student with autism in a classroom. Findings from 500 teacher participants on a post-test instrument regarding the film’s content show increased perspective taking regarding ASD deficits after the film. Results showed that through this approach, teachers were able to deepen their understanding about the deficit areas. Post-test results and feedback from reflective, post-film discussion show teacher understanding of deficits that may be present in those with ASD.
Keywords
Academic Accommodations (Disabilities), Attitudes toward Disabilities, Autism, Empathy, Feedback (Response), Films
References

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How to Cite
Kelleher, J. P. (2015). Perspective Taking Through Film: Educating Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers About Autism. Journal of the American Academy of Special Education Professionals, 10(2), 83-98. https://doi.org/10.64546/jaasep.276

Spring/Summer 2015

Article Information

  • Article Type Articles
  • Submitted April 11, 2015
  • Published June 15, 2015
  • Issue Spring/Summer 2015
  • Section Articles
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