To assess the knowledge and perception of primary school teachers about Asperger's Syndrome (AS).

Structured questionnaires about AS were posted to 90 primary school principals for them to distribute to teachers in their schools.

343 completed questionnaires were returned by 54 principals giving a response rate of 60%. Of these, 49% of the teachers reported that recognition and management of emotional and behavioural disorders was covered in their undergraduate training whilst 58% said they had ever taught a child with AS. 90% said intense absorption in certain subjects was a feature of AS, 84% recognised lack of empathy and poor social interaction whilst 58%, 64% and 69.7% respectively recognised pedantic repetitive speech, clumsy or ill-coordinated movements or odd postures and poor non-verbal communication as features of AS. 71% said children with Asperger's Syndrome should be taught in mainstream classes. However, only 10.5% of the teachers believed that main stream schools in Ireland are adequately resourced to cater for children with AS. 87.2% said they saw the need for a closer collaboration between schools and psychiatric services in the management of children with AS whilst 96.2% said they would like to receive in-service training on the management of children with AS.

Most primary school teachers recognise the features of AS and want schools to have greater collaboration with psychiatric services regarding management of AS. An in-service training for teachers on the management of AS might be of benefit to children with AS.