Children's social preference for teachers versus peers in autism inclusion classrooms: An objective perspective

Abstract

In inclusive preschools, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DD) are less socially engaged with peers than are typically developing (TD) children. However, there is limited objective information describing how children with ASD engage with teachers, or how teacher engagement compares to engagement with peers. We tracked over 750 hours' worth of children's (N = 77; N_ASD = 24, N_DD = 23, N_TD = 30; M_age = 43.98 months) and teachers' (N = 12) locations and orientations across eight inclusion preschool classrooms to quantify child-teacher and child-peer social preference. Social approach velocity and time in social contact were computed for each child and compared across social partners to index children's preference for teachers over peers. Children with ASD approached teachers--but not peers-more quickly than children with TD, and children with ASD were approached more quickly by teachers and more slowly by peers than children with TD. Children with ASD spent less time in social contact with peers and did not differ from children with TD in their time in social contact with teachers. Overall, children with ASD showed a greater preference for approaching, being approached by, and being in social contact with teachers (relative to peers) than children with TD. No significant differences emerged between children with DD and children with TD. In conclusion, children with ASD exhibited a stronger preference for engaging with teachers over peers, re-emphasizing the need for classroom-based interventions that support the peer interactions of children with ASD.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder; developmental disabilities; inclusion classrooms; objective measurement; social interaction.

FIGURE 1

Child to peer social approach velocity as a predictor of child to teacher social approach velocity.

FIGURE 2

Peer to child social approach velocity as a predictor of teacher to child social approach velocity.

FIGURE 3

Peer social contact as a predictor of teacher social contact.

FIGURE 4

Child to peer social approach velocity as a predictor of peer social contact.

FIGURE 5

Child to teacher social approach velocity as a predictor of teacher social contact.

FIGURE 6

Overview of all measures and significant results. No significant differences were observed between TD and DD groups or DD and ASD groups for any measures (see Table S1). ASD, autism spectrum disorder; DD, developmental disabilities; TD, typically developing.