Home-School Collaboration for Students with ASDs: Parents’ Perspectives

Abstract Parent-teacher collaboration for students with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) has become increasingly important due to the rise of students being diagnosed with ASDs. Today’s schools are being challenged with creating educational programs to best meets the need of this rising special needs population. This paper explores parent and special education school personnel collaboration to benefit the educational outcomes of this student population. This qualitative study examined 17 parents of school-aged children with varying ASDs using surveys and semi-structured interviews. Results indicated that parents viewed their current parent-teacher relationships as both positive and negative and found home-school communication to be an important method for keeping informed about their child's school progress. This study also revealed that parents of children with ASDs consider lack of teacher preparation in educating this student population as a barrier to effective home-school collaboration. Suggestions for further research were recommended.