Asperger Syndrome (Autistic Spectrum Disorder) and the Self-Reports of Comprehensive School Students

How to Minimize the Impact of Experts' Non-rational Beliefs on Their Judgments on Autism

The non-autistic majority often judges people on the autism spectrum through the prism of numerous stereotypes, prejudices, cognitive biases, or, generally speaking, non-rational beliefs. This causes problems in autistic people's everyday lives, as they often feel stigmatized, marginalized, and they internalize deficit-laden narratives about themselves. Unfortunately, experts, including health or law professionals, are not entirely immune to these non-rational beliefs, which affect their decision-making processes. This primarily happens when a mix of background knowledge, overconfidence, and haste co-occur. The resulting decisions may impact autistic people, e.g., by determining eligibility for the state's therapeutical and financial support. This paper shows how simplified reasoning and inference may influence experts' (medical examiners or court expert witnesses) decision-making processes concerning autistic people. It also proposes particular clues and strategies that could help experts cope with this risk and avoid making biased decisions.

How pupils on the autism spectrum make sense of themselves in the context of their experiences in a mainstream school setting: A qualitative metasynthesis

Evidence that interpersonal interactions and self-appraisal in social context are crucial in developing self-understanding raises concerns about how pupils with autism spectrum disorder make sense of themselves in school settings where many experience social marginalisation. Metasynthesis was used to systematically extract and integrate findings from qualitative studies examining the mainstream school experiences of these students. Synthesised findings identified three, intermeshing, aspects of experience which contribute to many pupils with autism spectrum disorder making sense of themselves as ‘different’ to typical peers in a negative way: difficulties linked to autism spectrum disorder; interpersonal relationships, particularly with peers; and accessibility of the school environment. Typical pupils’ attitudes and responses towards peers with autism spectrum disorder, unusual sensory reactions to the physical school environment and individual sense-making about the self are highlighted as key areas requiring further research and intervention to improve the experiences, self-esteem and well-being of pupils with autism spectrum disorder in inclusive settings and to inform educational policy and practice.

How Sensory Experiences Affect Adolescents with an Autistic Spectrum Condition within the Classroom

Sensory processing difficulties are consistently reported amongst individuals with an autistic spectrum condition (ASC); these have a significant impact on daily functioning. Evidence in this area comes from observer reports and first-hand accounts; both have limitations. The current study used the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile (AASP; Brown and Dunn in The Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile: self questionnaire. Pearson, 2002a), and a qualitative questionnaire to investigate sensory issues in school children with ASC. The AASP found that the participants' mean scores were outside normal parameters. Participants reported difficulties in at least one sensory domain, with hearing affecting them the most. Content analysis revealed sensory sensitivity to affect the participant's learning and that sensory experiences were largely negative. Results suggest that schools need to create sensory profiles for each individual with ASC.

'Sometimes I want to play by myself': Understanding what friendship means to children with autism in mainstream primary schools

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 parents' and teachers' reports in determining both the nature and extent of their friendships. Adults played an active role in supporting children's friendships, but this sometimes conflicted with what the children wanted. These findings highlight the need to ascertain the perspectives of young people with autism on their friendships and to consider the social and ethical implications of when and how to intervene.

Perception of social relationships with classmates and social support in adolescents with Asperger syndrome attending mainstream schools in Poland

One of the factors affecting successful inclusion of adolescents with Asperger syndrome (AS) in mainstream schools is positive relationships with classmates. The present study investigates how adolescents with AS: (1) perceive their classmates' attitude towards them; (2) what attitude towards classmates they declare, and (3) how they assess the effectiveness of social support received from parents, teachers, and classmates. The relationship between social support received by adolescents with AS and their perception of their relationships with classmates was also analysed. There were 50 participants in the study: Two groups with equal numbers of participants, one with adolescents with AS and the other with typically developing adolescents (age 12- to 17-years-old). All participants attended mainstream schools. A set of questionnaires measuring perception of social relationships in class and perceived social support was used. Adolescents with AS gave poorer assessments of their classmates’ attitude towards them and their attitude to their classmates. They also claimed to receive less support from classmates. Moreover, that type of support was significantly correlated with their evaluation of their peers attitude towards them and declared behaviour towards their peers.

Peer-group indicators of social inclusion among pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) in mainstream secondary schools: A comparative study

The number of pupils with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) attending mainstream schools is increasing, but there is evidence that their needs may not be fully met. Previous research has suggested that such pupils are at an increased risk of social exclusion. In light of this, the aim of the current study was to examine the sociometric status, perceived levels of peer social support, and the frequency of bullying experienced by this group of learners. Our sample comprised 40 pupils with ASD, 40 pupils with dyslexia, and a reference group of 40 pupils with no identified special educational needs, matched by age and gender (and, for the ASD and dyslexic groups, the stage of the SEN Code of Practice). Participants completed the Social Support Scale for Children (Harter, 1985) and the My Life in School Questionnaire (Arora & Thompson, 1987), and their peers completed the Social Inclusion Survey (Frederickson & Graham, 1999). Our analyses indicated that pupils with ASD experienced higher levels of rejection and lower levels of acceptance than either reference group. They also reported lower levels of peer social support and higher levels of bullying. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research and the efficacy of the inclusion movement.

`Make me normal'

Facilitating the learning and participation of pupils with Asperger syndrome and high-functioning autism (herein referred to as AS) in mainstream schools is complex and poorly understood. We report on a small-scale qualitative study of the views and experiences of 20 such pupils drawn from four secondary schools in north-west England. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and pupil diaries. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to explore how pupils with AS make sense of their educational experiences. The central theme was how participants constructed their understanding of what their AS meant to them. This was often characterized by negative perceptions of their differences, such as being `retarded' or having a `bad brain'. The links between this understanding and reported difficulties with peers and teachers, the desire to `fit in', and other themes are discussed. The implications of these findings for policy and practice in this area are also presented.

Assessment of pragmatic difficulties and socio-emotional adjustment in practice

BACKGROUND

In professional practice, psychologists and other professionals such as therapists and teachers receive referrals of many children who present with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties that are difficult to understand and assess. The problems of some of these children may stem from pragmatic difficulties in communication. This paper reports the results of a study on the use of checklists in professional practice to assist in the identification of these difficulties.

AIMS

(1) To ascertain whether two checklists, Bishop's (1998) Children's Communication Checklist and Goodman's (1997) Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, would discriminate between groups of children diagnosed as having autism, autistic spectrum disorder/Asperger's syndrome, pragmatic difficulties and children with other types of specific language impairment. (2) To investigate whether specific aspects of pragmatic difficulties can be identified as relating to difficulties in peer relationships. (3) To investigate whether ratings of pragmatic difficulties are related solely to difficulties in social relations or whether other aspects of socio-emotional adjustment are also affected.

METHODS & PROCEDURES

The Children's Communication Checklist and the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire were completed by the teachers and other professionals working with a sample of children (n = 38) with a range of types of communication difficulty and being educated in schools run by one English Local Education Authority.

OUTCOMES & RESULTS

Analyses of variance indicated that the scores for pragmatic competence and socio-emotional adjustment difficulties were useful in discriminating between groups of children with diagnoses of autism or autistic spectrum disorder, Asperger's syndrome, and other types of language impairment. No specific pragmatic correlates of social interactional difficulties were found, but ratings of hyperactivity were significantly correlated with pragmatic difficulties.

CONCLUSIONS

The two checklists if used together provide useful information on the profiles of strengths and weaknesses of children with a range of communication and or emotional/behavioural difficulties. The use of both checklists in this study demonstrated the differential profiles of pragmatic competence and socio-emotional adjustment of children with different types of communication difficulty.