Exploring the impact of training on explicit and implicit attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder and physical...

The current study examined the impact of training on attitudes toward autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and physical disabilities from both explicit and implicit aspects. As the number of autistic students enrolling in universities increases, there is a growing focus on meaningful inclusion in educational environments. Although several intervention studies investigated changes in attitudes towards people with disabilities, including ASD and physical disabilities, few have focused on the implicit aspect of attitudes.

In this study, participants received a training course on understanding and supporting people with developmental disorders, physical disabilities, or no training in the case of the control group. They completed surveys on their knowledge and explicit and implicit attitudes at three time points (pre-, post, and one-month follow-up).

We found significant positive changes in explicit attitudes toward disabilities that were not the target of the training course. Only participants who received training on physical disabilities changed their implicit attitude toward people with physical disabilities. These participants also knew more about physical disabilities before receiving the training course.

These results indicate that while positive spill-over effects in explicit attitudes occur through providing knowledge and support skills, implicit attitudinal change can occur depending on the level of expertise about the target disabilities.