Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism is a complex disorder of brain development characterized by a variable mixture of compared capacity for reciprocal socio-communicative interaction. Studies show that the community has bad perception towards autism. This book highlighted teachers’ knowledge and perception towards children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Malaysia. We found that, only few of the teachers have good knowledge on autism, however more have positive attitude towards autism. There is a lack of awareness and knowledge concerning ASD in the general population. Teachers recognize their own lack of knowledge of ASD and this awareness co-existed with an interest in increasing their knowledge and skills in this area. Lastly, teachers were of the belief that the government should be more involved in the services offered to children with ASD. We would like to call for the incorporation of programs and educational curricula in teacher-training that focuses on children with special needs. This book will help to improve understanding of social support, work engagement and the socio-demographics factors that are associated with teacher efficacy among Malaysian special education school teachers.