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The Experience of Transitioning Two Adolescents With Asperger Syndrome in Academically Focused High Schools*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 May 2013

Roselyn M. Dixon  and
Kathleen Tanner
Roselyn M. Dixon*
Affiliation:
University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia
Kathleen Tanner
Affiliation:
University of Wollongong, NSW, Australia
*
Correspondence: Dr Roselyn M. Dixon, University of Wollongong, Faculty of Education, NSW 2522, Australia. E-mail: roselyn@uow.edu.au
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Abstract

Adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) are increasingly being placed in academically focused high schools. These students, although academically able, may not be coping with the wider classroom and social demands of transition to, and within, the high school environment. Schools are keen to enrol these students. However, there appears to be a gap between the rhetoric and the reality relating to the varying perceptions of key stakeholders. In this paper we present the results of a study of the perceptions of key stakeholders in the transition of two students with AS into two academically focused high schools. Eight participants were involved in semistructured, one-on-one interviews. Key stakeholders included executive teachers, classroom teachers, students and their caregivers. The results indicated that there were some differences in the teacher and caregiver perspectives across physical, academic and social areas of transition.

Keywords

Asperger syndrometransitionadolescentshigh schoolqualitative researchcaregiver perspective
Type
Articles
Information
Australasian Journal of Special Education , Volume 37 , Special Issue 1: Transitions for Students With Special Educational Needs , July 2013 , pp. 28 - 48
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

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Footnotes

*

This manuscript was accepted under the Guest Editorship of Chris Forlin.

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