Abstract
The growing prevalence of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and the world’s bourgeoning commitment to inclusion in education has brought about an increase of learners with ASD, particularly mild ASD, in mainstream schools. The unique intrinsic and extrinsic barriers to learning experienced by ASD learners are often misunderstood by their teachers and peers, as well as further intensified by their developmental phase. Hence, this qualitative, single case study explored the learning support strategies that can assist adolescent learners with mild ASD in mainstream schools. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews and documents. Content analysis was used to analyse the data following the steps proposed by Creswell and Creswell (2018) and Leavy (2017). Three main themes emerged from the data analysis, namely: The person characteristics of learners with ASD and strategies to support intrinsic barriers; teacherfocussed learning support strategies; and peer-focussed learning support strategies. This study found that displays of flexibility, compassion, and understanding within the various systems of these learners will have a positive influence on their development rather than exacerbate their difficulties. This study sheds light on the positive impact of the ‘dyad of support’ on the lives of adolescent learners with mild ASD within mainstream school environments. Keywords: adolescent; autism spectrum disorder (ASD); learning support; mainstream; single case study; qualitative research.
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)