'Sometimes I want to play by myself': Understanding what friendship means to children with autism in mainstream primary schools Article in Autism · November 2012 (original) (raw)
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Research has shown that friendship impacts the overall experience of mainstream school for autistic children. Using a unique combination of quantitative, qualitative and social network methods, we investigated the extent and nature of autistic children’s friendships from their perspective and from those of their mothers, teachers and classroom peers. Consistent with previous research, children with autism (n = 12), aged between 9 and 11 years, rated their friendships to be of poorer quality than their non-autistic classroom peers (n = 11). There was, however, much variability in autistic children’s ratings, which, unexpectedly, was related to neither children’s cognitive ability nor their theory of mind ability. Encouragingly, the children generally reported satisfaction with their friendships, and although no child was socially isolated, the degree of inclusion in friendship networks varied widely. Furthermore, autistic children’s social motivation emerged as a key factor in parent...
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2024
their ability to engage in intimate and meaningful social interactions (Petrina et al., 2014). Given the importance of social relationships in development and quality of life and considering the known social difficulties associated with ASD, previous studies have examined the ability of cognitively able youth with ASD to establish social relationships (Bauminger & Kassari, 2000; Petrina et al., 2014). These studies compared children with ASD with neurotypical children and indicated that children with ASD can make friends (Bauminger & Kassari, 2000; Bauminger et al., 2008; Freeman et al., 2015). Similarities in developmental patterns of friendships (Bauminger et al., 2010), friendship expectations (Bottema-Beutel et al., 2019), satisfaction with relationships (Calder et al., 2012), and the desire to have friends (Mendelson et al., 2016) were described among children with ASD and neurotypical children. However, the friendship characteristics of children with ASD differed from those of age-matched neurotypical children in terms of the number of friends, frequency
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.
Non-reciprocal Friendships in a School-Age Boy with Autism: The Ties that Build?
Journal of autism and developmental disorders, 2018
This mixed-methods study examined differences in social interaction patterns between a school-age boy with autism and his friends, non-reciprocal friends, and non-friends during recess time at a mainstream school (third grade of elementary school). Through a combination of observational methodology and social network analysis with an idiographic, follow-up and multidimensional design approach, we used lag sequential and polar coordinate analysis to ascertain the associations between various interactive behaviors as a function of type of friendship relation. After 40 sessions, we found that the non-reciprocal friendship relations of the boy with autism could have significantly greater potential than his reciprocal friendships to increase active engagement and reduce the time he spent alone during recess.
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.
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.
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.