Building a Community in the Classroom: How Are Children With Autism Included in Their Classroom Communities?

• In Event: 35.053 - Understanding the Social Emotional Classroom Climate of Socioculturally and Neurodiverse Children in Early Childhood Education

Abstract

1. Objective
The aim of this study was to examine how parents describe the student teacher relationship for their children with autism. We were particularly interested in understanding how teachers develop an inclusive classroom community to support the development of social skills.

2. Theoretical Framework
Children with autism, who exhibit signature deficits in communication and social skills may not follow social cues, regulate their emotional states, or engage in effective interactions in the classroom, skills necessary for school success. Framed within Howes’ framework, this paper examines the classroom communities that exist for children with autism from the parent’s perspective.

3. Methods and Data Sources
Interviews were conducted with parents (N = 116; 89% mothers; M age = 57) of young children with ASD (M age = 5.7; M IQ = 87, WPSSI; 89% with Individualized Education Plan). A subset of 30 parent interviews were qualitatively analyzed to examine how parents described the child’s classroom environment. Interviews were chosen based on the results of the student-teacher relationship (STR) quality scale (Pianta, 2001). One third of the parent interviews described teachers who scored in the top 10% of the STR summary scores. One third of the parent interviews described teachers who scored in the bottom 10% of the STR summary scores. To select the final one third of the parent interviews, researchers randomly selected 10 interviews that described teachers with no STR scores. Researchers engaged in an iterative coding process. The interviews were read once to look for broad codes related to the student-teacher relationship. Then we engaged in a confirmatory phase to test the appropriateness of the codes. Two coders coded all thirty interviews to achieve a mean kappa of 80% reliability.

4. Results
Preliminary results indicated that parents had distinct opinions about the student-teacher relationship. Parents who reported poor student teacher relationships also reported a non-inclusive, uninviting classroom environment. Some parents reported that the child was bullied or teased in the classroom. To alleviate this behavior, the teacher separated the child with autism from the rest of the children. Parents who reported positive and warm relationships between their child and the teacher described a pleasant, supportive, and inclusive classroom environment. The teacher facilitated the inclusion of the child with autism into classroom activities. Parents reported that the teacher allowed for and implemented accommodations for the child, but also had high expectations. (e.g., the teacher may have allowed the child to hold a transition object during class, but the teacher still expected the child to interact appropriately with peers). Subsequent analyses will utilize an integrated methods approach to determine whether parents’ perceptions of the classroom environment are consistent with the STR summary score as reported by the teacher.

5. Scholarly Significance
These findings describe parents’ perceptions of the student-teacher relationship. Parents identify the classroom environment as a key component of understanding the student-teacher relationship. Future research must focus on those classrooms and teachers that have non-inclusive classroom environments, and poor student teacher relationships, with autism specific training, communication, and collaboration between home and school.

Authors

• Shana R. Cohen, University of California - San Diego

• Sasha Zeedyk, University of California - Riverside

• Naomi Rodas, University of California - Los Angeles

• Jan Blacher, University of California - Riverside

• Abbey Eisenhower, University of Massachusetts - Boston