Perceptions towards disabilities among primary-school teachers in the Lao’s People Democratic Republic: Insights into a cultural view of ASD
- Keywords
- autism spectrum disorder, disability perception, cultural view, teachers, Lao PDR
- Abstract
According to the social model of disability, perceptions towards disabilities are socially and culturally constructed. In a preliminary study, we explored the perceptions towards disabilities among 92 primary-school teachers in Lao People Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) in order to gain insights into the cultural view of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in Lao PDR. The data were collected via a paper-and-pen survey. The survey consisted of three vignettes that illustrate the characteristics of three children with different developmental disabilities. Each vignette was followed by open-ended questions about the teachers’ perceptions towards these three developmental disabilities. The findings revealed cultural-specific elements in the teachers’ understanding of ASD. Many teachers perceived ASD characteristics as variants of typical behaviors in young children, which they rationalized as the results of upbringing issues. Altogether, the findings offer a unique perspective to look at the formation of ASD-related stigma in Lao PDR.
- Copyright
- © 2019, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.
- Open Access
- This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).
Cite this article
TY - CONF AU - Hui Min Low AU - Lay Wah Lee AU - Aznan Che Ahmad AU - Ann Sien Sut Lee AU - Wong Tze Peng AU - Somchay Makesavanh AU - Bountheing Vongsouangtham AU - Vikate Phannalath AU - Somphet San PY - 2019/12 DA - 2019/12 TI - Perceptions towards disabilities among primary-school teachers in the Lao’s People Democratic Republic: Insights into a cultural view of ASD BT - Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Special Education (ICSE 2019) PB - Atlantis Press SP - 71 EP - 74 SN - 2352-5398 UR - https://www.atlantis-press.com/article/125928880 ID - Low2019/12 ER -