From Someone Who May Cause Trouble to Someone You Can Play With: Stakeholders' Perspectives on Preschool Program Quality for Autistic Children

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Author
Bejnö, H., Bölte, S., Linder, N., Långh, U., Odom, S. L., & RollPettersson, L.
Year
2022

Purpose

The study investigates how different stakeholders (parents, kindergarten coordinators, kindergarten staff and PPT service) perceive the quality of kindergarten programmes for autistic children. The aim of the study is to find out what contributes to good kindergarten provision for these children, and how a specific intervention (APERS-P-SE) affects this quality. The research questions are:

  1. What do the stakeholders perceive as key factors in providing a quality programme in kindergartens for autistic children receiving Early Intensive Behavioural Intervention (EIBI)?
  2. How do the stakeholders perceive that the APERS-P-SE intervention has affected the programme quality for these children?

Result

The results showed that the stakeholders emphasised four main areas as critical to quality programmes: staff competence, child inclusion and participation, collaboration between actors, and the learning environment. The intervention (APERS-P-SE) was generally perceived as positive, and it improved the staff’s competence, especially in facilitating individual needs and goal attainment for the children.

Design

The data consist of qualitative interviews with 19 participants, including parents, kindergarten coordinators, kindergarten staff and the PPT service in Sweden. Participants discussed key factors of quality in kindergarten programmes and their experiences of APERS-P-SE-based intervention.

References

Bejnö, H., Bölte, S., Linder, N., Långh, U., Odom, S. L., & RollPettersson, L. (2022). From Someone Who May Cause Trouble to Someone You Can Play With: Stakeholders' Perspectives on Preschool Program Quality for Autistic Children. Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 52, 3890-3908.

Online year: 2021

Issue year: 2022

Review year: 2022

Financed by

The Swedish Research Council, Sweden & Stockholm University, Sweden