Awareness of Autism in Primary School Teachers

Objective. To assess the knowledge and perception of primary school teachers regarding autism in private and public schools of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on primary school teachers in different districts of Karachi. A sample size of 170 teachers was selected by purposive sampling. Primary data was collected using self-administered questionnaires. These questions assessed the teacher’s knowledge and perception of Autism. Data was entered on SPSS version 20. Frequencies and percentages were taken out for categorical variables. Results. Of the total 170 teachers, 85 were from the Private and 85 from Public sector schools. 55% (n = 94) of the teachers knew about Autism through the media and only 9% (n = 15) had formal training through workshops on Autism. 62% (n = 105) of the teachers were of the opinion that Autism is treatable. Majority of the teachers (57%) said that proper training is required for teaching autistic children. Conclusion. The knowledge related to Autism in our existing sample has mostly come from the media. Although we cannot undermine the role of media, there is a need to give formal training to teachers regarding the differentiating features of Autism, which in turn will aid in early diagnosis of the disease. 1. Introduction Autism is a disorder of neural development, characterized by impaired social interaction, communication, and by restricted, repetitive behavior [1]. This condition begins at birth or within the first two-and-a-half years of life. The children affected are perfectly normal in appearance, but they spend their time engaged in puzzling and disturbing behaviors which are markedly different from those of typical children [2]. The cause of autism is not known [3, 4]. Studies suggest that there is a strong genetic basis, but it cannot be traced to a Mendelian (single-gene) mutation or to a single chromosome abnormality [5, 6]. Risk factors for autism include gender, males are three to four times more likely than females to get autism, family history, parents’ age, and other disorders such as fragile syndrome, tuberous sclerosis, Tourette’s syndrome, and epilepsy [7]. Apart from these, the use of drugs during pregnancy has also been identified as a risk factor. This was evident by a retrospective case study, which showed that maternal valproic acid used during pregnancy caused autism in the newborn [8]. Studies have even suggested the association of congenital rubella with autism [9, 10]. Another relatively frequent medical condition is cerebral palsy [11], in which the rates of