Physical educators’ experiences and perceptions towards teaching autistic children: a mixed methods approach

Background: Physical educators often reported being ill-equipped to teach autistic children. Furthermore, autistic children often report having negative experiences in physical education. The physical educator is key to shaping these experiences; however, research examining these educators’ perspective towards teaching autistic children is limited. Aims: The purpose of this study was to explore physical educators’ experiences working with autistic children. Method: A sequential explanatory mixed methods approach was utilized by first administering a questionnaire to physical educators about their perceptions towards teaching autistic children, and second, conducting in-depth interviews with a subset of the sample. Results: Survey data revealed that participants perceived that a variety of autistic characteristics challenging their ability to effectively teach autistic children. These challenges were further elaborated on in qualitative data in the theme of ‘autism is a spectrum: an array of challenges’. Moreover, participants discussed strategies employed to effectively work with autistic children (theme 2: ‘best practices’), including the importance of relationship building (theme 3: ‘relationship building is vital’). Conclusions/Implications: Although physical educators are using various evidence-based practices and hold some views that the challenges autistic children face are partly attributed to society and the structures within it, a medical model viewpoint continues to be prominent. Future research should examine how physical educators form their views towards teaching autistic children.