The poor performance of roles in handling learners with Autism Spectrum Disorder is alarming. Through the lens of Role Theory, the researcher explored the SPED teachers’ behaviors, rights, and duties that shape teachers’ roles in handling ASD learners. Qualitative descriptive study design, purposive sampling, and thematic analysis are the methods the researcher used. Based on the interviews of the ten study participants, the researcher found that resilience, patience, structured practice, and compassion are core behaviors of SPED teachers; rights such as support aides, training, resources, and recognition; and duties including care-giving, advocacy, mediator, and family guidance, all rooted in educational policy. Policies to ensure better teaching role performance may be amended. Future research may utilize multiple linear progression, exploratory factor analysis, and mediation analysis to validate how SPED teachers’ behaviors, rights, and duties interact as dynamic components shaped by educational policy.
Publication Date: 2026-06-15