Children’s Attitudes Towards Peers with Autism

• In Event: Poster Session 03
  In Poster Session: PS 03 Topic - Developmental Disabilities

Abstract

The number of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has risen, with diagnoses as early as 18 months (Rice et al., 2012). Because ASD is a spectrum disorder, it is challenging for others to know if individuals are diagnosed and each individual may need varying levels/types of support to be successful. With many diagnoses occurring before children are school aged, what interventions should be used is debated. Many special educators have encouraged for more inclusive classrooms for children with disabilities to help these individuals excel, but not everyone agrees (Bosch, 2016). Peers’ attitudes play a vital role in how individuals on the spectrum are viewed by classmates and these attitudes can affect the success of individuals (Charley, 2016).

This study asked 29 children (16 boys), who had completed kindergarten through 6th grade, to imagine they were classmates of two peers, one of whom had ASD. Over Zoom with an experimenter, participants rated both classmates on how they viewed the fairness level of varying numbers of questions on an assignment and then their likeliness to play with them (See Tables 1 and 2 for questions). One group heard a story where the student with ASD was more independent, and the other group heard a story where the student with ASD needed more support. They listened to the beginning of the story, then rated how they felt towards both individuals on the 5-point Smiley Face Likert Scale (Hall et al., 2016). After completing the first ratings, participants finished listening to the story that included a small educational component about why the student with ASD acted and received the accommodations that they did. Participants then rated again how they felt on the scale with the questions. For both stories, we hypothesized that after receiving an educational component, the ratings towards the students with ASD would be higher for both fairness and play.

Preliminary analyses revealed no effects or interactions with story type (more or less support), therefore we collapsed across that factor for analyses. Data were then analyzed using four separate 2 [age; younger vs. older] x 2 [timing; before vs. after] partially repeated measures Analyses of Variance (ANOVA). The two fairness questions were the only ones that found significance regarding the timing. As shown in Table 1 for both questions, participants rated fairness for both classmates higher after learning the educational component (Question 1: F(1, 27) = 27.5, p < .001; Question 2: F(1, 27) = 22.083, p < .001). There was also a significant main effect of age for the first fairness question, F(1, 27) = 7.249, p = .012. Younger participants (Kdg-2nd; M = 2.500, SE = .191) had a lower overall fairness rating compared to older participants (3rd-6th grade; M = 3.269, SE = .212). Age revealed no additional main effects or interactions (ps > .22). No significance was found for play (see Table 2). This study demonstrated that giving information about ASD can positively alter children's ratings on fairness, but their ratings of play remain consistent.

Authors

• Addison Lindsey, Ripon College
  Presenting Author

• Kristine Ann Kovack-Lesh, Ripon College
  Non-Presenting Author