Teacher Training on Autism Spectrum Disorders in Tanzania. Results from a Three Day Workshop

Background: Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a worldwide phenomenon. There are large disparities in provision of service for children with ASD around the world. In Africa, many countries have small number of professionals dedicated to working with children with ASD. Recommendations to address this include increased engagement with community stakeholders, increase in access to information about ASD, and specific trainings on ASD in community settings.

Objectives: Participants will learn about the successful delivery of a training to increase teachers' basic knowledge about ASD in an urban setting in Tanzania.

Methods: Participants included special education teachers from schools in Mwanza, Tanzania. They completed a three-day ASD training workshop in July 2018. The training was hosted by the Organization for Medical and Psychological Assistance for Children Overseas (OMPACO), a United States based social benefit organization who has conducted trainings in Tanzania since 2011. Of the 39 participants recruited, 35 (17 males and 17 females; M_age = 40.29, SD_age = 8.50) successfully completed the study. Training materials were developed by OMPACO clinicians who used PowerPoint presentations and hands-on teaching activities. All information was translated into Swahili for participants. To establish baseline autism knowledge, participants received a pre-test measure, a translated version of the 49-item Autism Stigma and Knowledge questionnaire (Harrison et al., 2017). At the end of the training, participants were re-administered the measure. Total knowledge scores on the pre- and post-test measures were analyzed to examine whether the training led to gains in autism knowledge.

Results: A paired t-test revealed a significant increase in knowledge scores from the pre- (M = 36.09, SD = 3.80) to post-test (M = 39.63, SD = 2.52), t(34) = 5.12, p < .001. Cohen’s effect size value indicated that this was a large effect, d = .86, indicating that the training was effective at improving autism knowledge in the participants. An exploratory mixed ANOVA with gender as a between-subjects factor did not reveal any effects of gender on knowledge scores (Fs < 1). In addition, pre-test scores, post-test scores, and difference scores were not significantly correlated with participant age or with the number of students (with ASD, with an intellectual disability, or combined) that the participants were currently teaching.

Conclusions: The current findings demonstrate a significant gain in autism knowledge, as measured by the questionnaire, at the end of the training workshop for the teachers who attended. This improvement in knowledge did not appear to be related to participant gender or age, nor the number of students with ASD or intellectual disability the teachers were currently instructing. Importantly, these findings support the development of a professional development program on the topic of autism for teachers can be provided in an urban center in Tanzania, and highlights the need for implementing additional training or retention methods to improve overall basic knowledge of ASD.

Harrison, A.J., Bradshaw, L.P., Naqvi, N.C., Paff, M.L.,& Campbell, J.M (2017). Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Autism Stigma and Knowledge Questionnaire (ASK-Q). Journal of Autism and Development Disabilities. doi: 10.1007/s10803-017-3242-x