Teachers' perceptions of barriers and facilitators to peer play between children with autism spectrum disorder and typically developing peers in early childhood education: a research circle study in Austria

Children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) are increasingly being integrated into primary and secondary mainstream education. Yet, little is known about teachers' challenges in supporting peer play for children with ASD in early childhood education. This study explores teachers' perspectives on the barriers and facilitators to supporting peer play between children with ASD and their typically developing peers. Observations and research circle meetings were conducted with eight teachers from an urban area in Austria. Material from the meetings was analysed using qualitative content analysis and participants' feedback. Findings illustrate how teachers perceive and manage multiple factors that influence peer play, including child-level factors (e.g. irritability to noise), peer and family factors (e.g. negative roles attributed to children with ASD), and institutional factors (e.g. large group sizes and lack of rooms without distractions). This study also highlights teachers' ambivalence about safeguarding children's participatory rights when encouraging children with ASD to engage in peer play when children with ASD need to disengage. This ambivalence is linked to the need for expanding the comfort zone of typically developing children by raising their awareness of diverse ways to interact and participate in play to support all children's needs in inclusive education.