School Inclusion in Children and Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorders in France: Report from the ELENA French Cohort Study

• Published in: Journal of autism and developmental disorders Vol. 50; no. 2; pp. 455 - 466
• Main Authors: Rattaz, Cécile, Munir, Kerim, Michelon, Cécile, Picot, Marie-Christine, Baghdadli, Amaria
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.02.2020; Springer; Springer Nature B.V; Springer Verlag
• Subjects: Adaptation, Psychological; Adolescent; Adolescents; Anxiety; Anxiety Disorders; Attendance; Autism; Autism Spectrum Disorder; Autism Spectrum Disorders; Autistic adolescents; Autistic children; Behavior Problems; Behavioral Science and Psychology; Child; Child and School Psychology; Child, Preschool; Children; Classrooms; Cognition; Cognitive ability; Cognitive impairment; Cognitive science; Cohort Analysis; Communication Skills; Comorbidity; Daily Living Skills; Developmental Disabilities; Education; Education, Special; Educational Needs; Educational Planning; Female; Foreign Countries; France; Human health and pathology; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Inclusion; Individual Characteristics; Information processing; Interpersonal Competence; Life Sciences; Mainstreaming; Male; Mathematics; Multicenter studies; Neurosciences; Original Paper; Part Time Employment; Pediatrics; Pervasive Developmental Disorders; Physical Disabilities; Program Implementation; Psychology; Public Health; School attendance; School Policy; Sensory Integration; Sensory processes; Severe Disabilities; Social Development; Special Education Teachers; Special Needs Students; Statistics; Student Characteristics; Student Participation; Student Placement; Students with Disabilities; Symptoms (Individual Disorders); Teacher Aides; Teenagers; Topography; France; School duration; ASD; Cohort; School inclusion; France
• ISSN: 0162-3257; 1573-3432; 1573-3432
• DOI: 10.1007/s10803-019-04273-w

Children and adolescents with ASD are increasingly included in regular school settings, however little is known about how placement decisions are made. In the present study, we examined the types and duration of school attendance among children and adolescents in the ELENA Cohort, a multi-center study of children and adolescents with ASD, ages 2–16 years, in France. Results showed that 88% of subjects were attending school and that children and adolescents with more severe adaptive and cognitive deficits were less likely to attend school. The results provide a topography on school inclusion and ASD in France. Challenging behaviors and sensory processing difficulties were associated with partial-inclusion; and co-occurring anxiety symptoms were associated with inclusion on a full-time basis.