Friendship in Autism Spectrum Disorder Is Related to Diverse Developmental Changes Between Toddlerhood and Adolescence (original) (raw)
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Adolescents with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Friendships and Social Interactions
Adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) often have difficulty with social interactions. This study aimed to increase social interactions in adolescents with ASD. Teachers developed friendship goals based on social skills outlined in the teaching-family model. Teachers provided reinforcement to students for displaying positive behaviors linked to goals throughout the school day. The current study also examined student, parent, and teacher perceptions of adolescent social interactions using interviews and surveys. During their interviews, adolescents reported that they were often lonely. Parents indicated that their children needed to learn skills to improve peer interactions. Observers used a behavioral system to quantify the types of social interactions displayed by adolescents. After a baseline period, teachers developed an intervention focusing on friendship goals to encourage students to engage in social interactions. The intervention had a limited impact on improving social interactions. The findings for the current study indicated limited improvement in social interactions resulting from the teacher-directed intervention. Parents, adolescents, and teachers highlighted the need for adolescents with ASDs to find ways to utilize social skills to reduce loneliness and improve peer support. Future research investigating the impact of teaching interaction/friendship skills around the students' interests (e.g., sports) may help them learn skills to interact more with peers. Additionally, assessing the impact of individualized planning to improve each adolescent's skills may be more influential in changing social behavior than a system-wide intervention, such as the one implemented in this study.
Predicting friendship quality in autism spectrum disorders and typical development
Journal of autism and …, 2010
The role played by social relationship variables (attachment security; mother–child relationship qualities) and social-cognitive capacities (theory of mind) was examined in both observed friendship behaviors and in children’s descriptions of friendships (age 8–12) with high functioning children with autism spectrum disorders (HFASD) (n = 44) and with typical development (TYP) (n = 38). Overall, half of the HFASD sample (54.45%) reported maternal attachment security, corroborating data from younger children with ASD. The hypothesized predictors and their interrelations had both direct and indirect effects on friendship for both groups of children, highlighting the importance of these factors in children’s friendship development and suggesting both compensatory and amplification mechanisms for friendship qualities. Practical and clinical implications are discussed for friendship support in both ASD and TYP.
Friendship in High-functioning Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder: Mixed and Non-mixed Dyads
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2007
Friendships containing a child with autism and a friend with typical development ("mixed" friendships, n = 26) and those of children with autism and a friend with a disability ("non-mixed," n = 16) were contrasted with friendships of typically developing subjects and their friends (n = 31). Measures included dyadic interaction samples, and interview and questionnaire data from subjects, friends, and parents. Mixed friendship interactions resembled typical friendships. Participants in mixed friendships were more responsive to one another, had stronger receptive language skills, exhibited greater positive social orientation and cohesion, and demonstrated more complex coordinated play than in the non-mixed dyads. Exposure to typical peers appears to have significant effects on friendship behaviors.
Loneliness and Friendship in High-Functioning Children with Autism
Child Development, 2000
Loneliness and friendship were examined in 22 high-functioning children with autism and 19 typically developing children equated with the autistic children for IQ, CA, gender, mother's education, and ethnicity. Children between the ages of 8 and 14 were asked to report on both their understanding and feelings of loneliness and the quality of their friendship. Compared to typically developing children, children with autism were both lonelier and had less complete understandings of loneliness. Although all children with autism reported having at least one friend, the quality of their friendships was poorer in terms of companionship, security, and help. Fewer associations were found between loneliness and friendship for the autistic than for the non-autistic children, suggesting less understanding of the relation between loneliness and friendship. Implications of these results are discussed for conceptualizing the social deficits in autism.
European Journal of Special Needs Education, 2016
Establishing and maintaining friendships is frequently challenging for young people with autism spectrum conditions (ASC). However, few studies have explored influences on friendship development, meaning that knowledge of friendship formation processes remains limited at a critical point in social development. As friendship can impact on well-being and the success of educational inclusion, addressing this issue is important and timely. This study explores friendship among adolescents with ASC, and in particular the meaning and nature of friendship, including perceived influences on its development. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine participants: three adolescent students with ASC, a parent of each student, and key teachers. Students were found to have an understanding of friendship, although parents often felt it was theoretical and did not correlate with their own experiences. All of the students expressed a desire for friendship and reported having experienced loneliness. Friendships tended to centre on structured activities such as computer games, which provided both support and obstacles for friendship development. Further individual and contextual influences included levels of maturity, understanding of social rules, school environment, and peer acceptance. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to research and practice in educational settings.
Social Networks and Friendships at School: Comparing Children With and Without ASD
Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, 2011
Self, peer and teacher reports of social relationships were examined for 60 high-functioning children with ASD. Compared to a matched sample of typical children in the same classroom, children with ASD were more often on the periphery of their social networks, reported poorer quality friendships and had fewer reciprocal friendships. On the playground, children with ASD were mostly unengaged but playground engagement was not associated with peer, self, or teacher reports of social behavior. Twenty percent of children with ASD had a reciprocated friendship and also high social network status. Thus, while the majority of high functioning children with ASD struggle with peer relationships in general education classrooms, a small percentage of them appear to have social success.
Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities, 2000
This study examined the perception of friendship in high-functioning children with autism (8-17 years old) and the link between perceptions of self and of social relationships in these children. Sixteen typically developing children were matched to sixteen high-functioning children with autism, on chronological age, IQ, gender, and mother's education. Study measures included a friendship picture recognition task and three self-report questionnaires: qualities of friendship, loneliness, and self-perception profile. Main results indicated that even if children with autism more frequently related to the intersubjective qualities of friendship such as affective sharing or intimacy, they perceived their friendship to be as close as did typically developing children. Also, for the group with autism, friendship correlated positively with cognitive competencies and general self-worth and negatively with loneliness. In addition, children with autism perceived their social and athletic competencies as lower compared with typically developing children. Implications of the associations between self-perceptions and perceptions of friendship are discussed.