**A. Appendices Procedure for calculating total scores for knowledge, attitudes, and behavior**

*To calculate knowledge*, participants were given a score of 1 for each correct answer to the following sub-questions.

Autism…:

1..... Is contagious (false).

2..... Is a condition with which one can live normally, with treatments (true).

3..... Involves lifelong treatment (false).

4..... Is a hereditary condition (true).

*Stigma: An Investigative Analysis of the Irish Public's Knowledge and Perception of Autism DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108670*

5..... Is a condition like any other (true).

Where participants gave an incorrect answer or said "I do not know," they were given a score of 0. Correct scores were added to give a total knowledge score. *To calculate attitudes,* each of the sub-questions was used:

#### **A person with autism…**


For sub-question 1, a higher agreement was recorded as a higher score, with "Agree" recorded as 3, "I do not know" recorded as 2, and "Disagree" recorded as 1.

For sub-questions 2 to 8, a lower agreement was recorded as a higher score, with "Agree" recorded as 1, "I do not know" recorded as 2, and "Disagree" recorded as 3. Scores were added to give a total attitudes score.

*To calculate behavior,* Questions 12, 13, and 14 of the questionnaires were used:

12. Would you work with someone who had autism?

13. Would you allow your children to be in the same class as a child with autism?

14. Would you accept to live under the same roof as a loved one if s/he had autism?

Higher agreement was recorded as a higher score, with "Yes happily" recorded as 3, "Yes if I had to" recorded as 2, and "Absolutely not" recorded as 1. Scores were added to give a total behaviors score.

*Autism Spectrum Disorders - Recent Advances and New Perspectives*
