Eight children without disabilities who attended an inclusive preschool at Macquarie University Special Education Centre were followed‐up in their first year of school in an attempt to establish whether their preschool program, in particular the inclusion of a high proportion of children with a range of intellectual disabilities, would have a detrimental effect on their subsequent social and academic performance. The current skills of these children, in relation to their peers, were assessed using a range of measures including a teacher interview, a collection of independently evaluated work samples and measures of in‐class behaviour. The academic performance of the children was also compared to the measures of their receptive vocabulary and tests of early reading which were collected towards the end of their preschool year. The academic and social measures taken in the school year indicated that the children’s performance was equal to that of their peers, thereby challenging claims that integrated settings have a negative impact on development. According to the ratings of their early reading and phonemic awareness skills by their kindergarten teachers, these children were performing at or above the level predicted by measures of their language and prereading skills in the preschool.

This study reports a further analysis of data presented by Chalmers, Carter, Clayton and Hook (in press) that examined teachers’ perceptions of possible best practice, reported implementation and training needs. Teachers of students with severe disabilities in 3 NSW Department of School Education regions were surveyed with 83 useable surveys being returned. Comparisons were made between teachers who worked in Schools for Specific Purposes (SSP) and those who working in support classes in regular schools as well as teachers with formal special education qualifications and those without such qualifications. Teachers in support classes reported a higher level of agreement with a majority of practices and disproportionately high levels of implementation when compared with teachers in SSPs. Teachers with formal special education qualifications reported higher levels of agreement than teachers without formal qualifications on the majority of items, but implementation levels were similar. There also appeared to be systematic differences in reported inservice training needs. Inadequacies in therapy services were reported as a barrier to best practice by over 50% of support class teachers.

This paper investigates issues surrounding the inclusion of students with Asperger’s Syndrome in primary school classrooms by first identifying the unique needs of these students, and secondly, by examining some strategies which can facilitate the inclusion of these students into inclusive school settings. These effective methods take into account physical factors within the classroom, the predictability of instructional routines, and building on students’ pre‐existing knowledge in order to enhance their productivity. The approaches to instruction discussed in this paper are particularly valuable because they are appropriate to the needs of many students in the regular classroom.