Parenting Behaviors as Predictive of Early Student-Teacher Relationships in ASD

Relationships of paraeducators and teachers with their autistic students

Paraeducators play an important role in the classroom experiences of many autistic students. Although previous research has indicated that autistic students typically have strained relationships with their teachers, little is known about their relationships with paraeducators. We examined relationship quality reported by teachers (N = 171) and paraeducators (N = 28) with their elementary-age autistic students (IQ ≥ 50, ages 4-8 years, Grades PreK-3). Paraeducators reported strained relationships with their autistic students relative to normative means. This was especially apparent when compared with teacher report as paraeducators reported significantly lower overall relationship quality with their autistic students marked by higher conflict and dependency, yet similar reports of closeness. Indirect effect analysis indicated that higher conflict between paraeducators and their autistic students was accounted for by their fewer years of classroom experience compared to teachers. These findings should encourage school psychologists to consider the systemic factors likely contributing to paraeducators' fewer years of experiences and, as members of special education teams, use a consultative framework to provide supports needed to foster positive relationships between paraeducators and their autistic students.

Scoping review of behavioral coding measures used to evaluate parent responsiveness of children with autism or elevated risk of autism

LAY ABSTRACT

The topic of how parents react (e.g., how they talk and act) to their child with autism or elevated likelihood of autism, often called parent responsiveness, has been studied by researchers for over 50 years. Many methods for measuring behaviors around parent responsiveness have been created depending on what researchers were interested in discovering. For example, some include only the behaviors that the parent does/says in reacting to something the child does/says. Other systems look at all behaviors in a period of time between child and parent (e.g., who talked/acted first, how much the child or parent said/did). The purpose of this article was to provide a summary of how and what researchers looked at around parent responsiveness, describe the strengths and barriers of these approaches, and suggest a "best practices" method of looking at parent responsiveness. The model suggested could make it more possible to look across studies to compare study methods and results. The model could be used in the future by researchers, clinicians, and policymakers to provide more effective services to children and their families.

Family Impact During the Time Between Autism Screening and Definitive Diagnosis

Over the past 10 years, identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) risk has dramatically increased due to the wide-spread implementation of screening programs; yet, there is limited understanding about parent perceptions and experiences during the time period when risk is identified, but prior to receiving a formal diagnosis-a period that can last months to years given the long wait-lists for formal ASD evaluations. The current study aimed to examine parent perceptions of family impact (i.e., the impact their child's behaviors have on the family) between the time of risk-identification and formal diagnosis among 277 children identified as at-risk for ASD through screening positive in primary care. We aimed to compare family impact among those whose child met diagnostic criteria for ASD and those who did not. Parents of children who received a non-ASD diagnosis reported a higher baseline level of family impact (F[1, 274] = 5.82, p = .017); however, perceived difficult child behavior was a stronger predictor of family impact (t[6] = 13.11, p < .001) than later diagnostic group (t[6] = - 2.10, p = .037), and child functioning did not predict family impact (t[6] = -0.31, p = .76). These results suggest that in this population, perceived difficult child behavior is a stronger predictor of family impact than later diagnostic category and should be considered an important factor in family support.

Evidence Base Update for Measures of Social Skills and Social Competence in Clinical Samples of Youth

Social skills and social competence are key transdiagnostic processes in developmental psychopathology and are the focus of an array of clinical interventions. In this Evidence Base Update, we evaluated the psychometric properties of measures of social skills and social competence used with clinical samples of children and adolescents. A systematic literature search yielded eight widely used measures of social skills and one measure of social competence. Applying the criteria identified by Youngstrom et al. (2017), we found that, with some exceptions, these measures had adequate to excellent norms, internal consistency, and test-retest reliability. There was at least adequate evidence of construct validity and treatment sensitivity in clinical samples for nearly all measures assessed. Many of the scales included items assessing constructs other than social skills and competence (e.g., emotion regulation). Development of updated tools to assess youth's effectiveness in key interpersonal situations, including those occurring online, may yield clinical dividends.