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Multi-informant predictors of Social Inclusion for students with Autism Spectrum Disorders attending mainstream school
Alice P. Jones1, 2 & Norah Frederickson2
Running Head: Predictors of social inclusion for pupils with ASD
1 Department of Psychology, Goldsmiths College, University of London
2 Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, University College London
Abstract
This study examined differential profiles of behavioural characteristics predictive of successful inclusion in mainstream education for children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and comparison students. Multiple regression analyses using behavioural ratings from parents, teachers and peers found some evidence for differential profiles predicting peer acceptance and rejection. High levels of peer-rated shyness significantly predicted social rejection in comparison students only. Parent-rated prosocial behaviour also differentially predicted social acceptance; high-levels of prosocial behaviour predicted acceptance in comparison students, but low-levels were predictive for students with ASD. These findings suggest that schools may seek to augment traditional social skills programmes with awareness raising about ASD among mainstream pupils to utilise peers apparent willingness to discount characteristics such as shyness.
Keywords: Autism Spectrum Disorders, Social Inclusion, Education
Corrsponding authors email: a.jones@gold.ac.uk
Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) affect around 1% of children in the UK ADDIN EN.CITE Baird200644417Baird, G.Simonoff, E. Pickles, A.Chandler, S. Loucas, T.Meldrum, D.Charman, T. Prevalence of disorders of the autism spectrum in a population cohort of children in South Thames the special needs and autism project (SNAP)LancetLancet2102153682006(Baird et al., 2006), and many of these children are likely to have special educational needs (SEN) requiring additional and special provision. International educational policy advocates inclusion of students with SEN in mainstream contexts ADDIN EN.CITE UNESCO19945757576UNESCOThe Salamanca statement and framework for action on special education1994ParisUNESCO(UNESCO, 1994) and in the UK, schools are required to make adjustments to enable children with SEN to be included in school life ADDIN EN.CITE DfEE200111111127DfEESpecial Educational Needs and Disability Act2001LondonThe Stationery Office Limited (DfEE, 2001). The assessment of outcomes for children included in mainstream education is key in current policy initiatives in both the US and UK ADDIN EN.CITE Education200223US Department of Education, 23236US Department of EducationNo Child Left Behind. Public Law: 107-1102002 Washington, DCUS Department of EducationDfES20034040406DfESEvery Child Matters2003LondonThe Stationery Office(US Department of Education, DfES, 2003; 2002).
However, a survey by the Office for Standards in Education ADDIN EN.CITE OFSTED20045858586OFSTEDSpecial Educational Needs and Disability: towards inclusive schools2004LondonOFSTED(OFSTED, 2004) concluded that the outcomes of inclusion were poorly monitored, with few schools evaluating their SEN provision systematically enough to test effectiveness and value for money. In 2005, Mary Warnock controversially challenged the policy of inclusion, expressing particular concerns about students social and emotional outcomes and highlighted children with ASD as being especially at risk of poor outcomes ADDIN EN.CITE Warnock20051616166Warnock, M.Special Educational Needs: a New Look2005LondonPhilosophy of Education Society of Great Britain(Warnock, 2005).
Children with ASD are characterized by marked impairments in reciprocal social interaction, communication, and by repetitive and restricted interests and behaviours ADDIN EN.CITE WHO199256ICD-10, 56566WHOThe ICD-10 classification of mental and behavioral disorders: Clinical descriptions and diagnostic guidelines1992GenevaWHOAssociation200071DSM-IV-TR, APA, 71716American Psychiatric AssociationDiagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders - 4th Edition, Text Revision.2000Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association(DSM-IV-TR, APA, 2000; ICD-10, WHO, 1992). As such, one the greatest challenges for an individual with ASD is navigating the social world. School can be the source of both challenge and opportunity for developing social skills and peer relationships. There are over 32,500 students with ASD in primary and secondary mainstream education ADDIN EN.CITE Statistics20089Office of National Statistics, 996Office of National StatisticsSpecial Educational Needs in England2008LondonDfES(Office of National Statistics, 2008). However, research into the outcomes for students with ASD in mainstream classes is relatively scarce ADDIN EN.CITE Barnard200017171727Barnard, J.Prior, A.Potter, D.Autism and inclusion: Is it working?2000LondonNational Autistic SocietyHumphrey200813131317Humphrey, N.Lewis, S.What does "Inclusion" mean for pupils on the Autistic Spectrum in mainstream secondary schools?Journal of Research in Special Educational NeedsJournal of Research in Special Educational Needs2008(Barnard, Prior, & Potter, 2000; Humphrey & Lewis, 2008b) and has predominantly focused on the assessment of negative outcomes such as bullying, anxiety, social isolation and loneliness ADDIN EN.CITE Bauminger200015151517Bauminger, N.Kasari, C.Loneliness and friendship in high-functioning children with autismChild DevelopmentChild Development447-456712000Chamberlain200746464617Chamberlain, B.Kasari, C.Rotheram-Fuller, E.Involvement or isolation? The social networks of children with autism in regular classroomsJournal of Autism and Developmental DisordersJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders230-242372007(Bauminger & Kasari, 2000; Chamberlain, Kasari, & Rotheram-Fuller, 2007). More recently attention has turned to factors that can enhance the educational environment for children with ASD. Humphrey and Lewis ADDIN EN.CITE Humphrey200812121217Humphrey, N.Lewis, S.'Make me normal': The views and experiences of pupils on the autistic spectrum in mainstream secondary schoolsAutismAutism23-46122008(2008a) have identified school-based factors implicated in successful inclusion, such as: differentiation of work, developing a predictable and ordered environment, placing the student with ASD in quiet, well-behaved classes and providing access to a knowledgeable member of staff for advice on ASD-specific issues. Successful inclusion may also be pursued using peer-mediated intervention strategies which have been shown to have a positive outcome for students with ASD and their mainstream peers (Kamps, Barbetta, Leonard & Delquadri, 1994; Dugan, Kamps, & Leonard, Watkins, Rheinburger et al, 1995).
Students with ASD are not a homogenous group ADDIN EN.CITE Tager-Flusberg200347474717Tager-Flusberg, H.Joseph, R.M.Identifying neurocognitive phenotypes in autismPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological SciencesPhilosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences303-3143582003(Tager-Flusberg & Joseph, 2003) and child-specific characteristics are also likely impact on successful inclusion. Behavioural characteristics associated with school social inclusion in typically developing students are well documented ADDIN EN.CITE Newcomb199328282817Newcomb, A.F.Bukowski, W.M.Pattee, L.Childrens peer relations: A meta-analytic review of popular, rejected, neglected, controversial and average sociometric statusPsychological BulletinPsychological Bulletin99-1281131993(Newcomb, Bukowski, & Pattee, 1993). However, previous research suggests a differential profile of behaviour characteristics predicting social inclusion for students with Moderate Learning Difficulties (MLD) in mainstream than those for mainstream students ADDIN EN.CITE Frederickson200422217Frederickson, N.L.Furnham, A.F.Peer-assessed behavioural characteristics and sociometric rejection: differences between pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream peers.British Journal of Educational PsychologyBritish Journal of Educational Psychology391-410742004Nabuzoka198330303017Nabuzoka, D.Smith, P.K.Sociometric status and social behaviour of children with and without learning difficultiesJournal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry1435-1448341983(Frederickson & Furnham, 2004; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1983).
Frederickson and Furnham ADDIN EN.CITE Frederickson199838383817Frederickson, N.L.Furnham, A.F.Sociometric classification methods in school peer groups: A comparative investigation.Journal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry921-934391998(1998) have speculated that these differences may be understood in terms of Social Exchange Theory ADDIN EN.CITE Thibaut19594949496Thibaut, J. W.Kelley, H. H.The social Psychology of Groups1959New YorkWiley(Thibaut & Kelley, 1959). This theory explains motivation for affiliation with others in relation to the perceived costs and benefits of interacting with them, set against some minimum level of expectation. In MLD/Mainstream research, the mainstream students who experienced greatest social acceptance were those who represented the highest benefit traits (e.g. co-operation) and lowest cost traits (e.g. disruptive, help-seeking), while those mainstream students experiencing social rejection showed the reverse pattern. Frederickson and Furnham ADDIN EN.CITE Frederickson200422217Frederickson, N.L.Furnham, A.F.Peer-assessed behavioural characteristics and sociometric rejection: differences between pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream peers.British Journal of Educational PsychologyBritish Journal of Educational Psychology391-410742004(2004) showed a difference between the behavioural profiles associated with social acceptance and rejection for MLD and mainstream students. They suggested that social rejection was experienced by only those students with MLD who failed even to deliver the minimum benefits expected in terms of benefit traits; and higher than average level of costly behaviours appeared to be discounted. Conversely, those students with MLD who were socially accepted were characterized by low levels of costly behaviours but were not expected to offer high levels of benefits.
One method of assessing social inclusion of students with SEN involves using peer sociometric measures (Frederickson & Furnham, 2004, Ochoa & Olivarez, 1995). This study uses the Social Inclusion Survey (SIS; Frederickson & Graham, 1999), which was specifically designed to assess social outcomes of inclusion and has good psychometric properties (Frederickson & Furnham, 1998a, Frederickson & Furnham, 2001). In addition to these peer ratings of social inclusion, this study also obtained reports on behaviour from parents and teachers. Clinically the use of multi-informant ratings is recommended (Verhulst & Van der Ende, 2008) and is likely to be of particular relevance in decision-making on inclusion.
In summary, the main aim of this study was to investigate the behavioural characteristics reported by three different informants: peers, parents and teachers that predict both social acceptance and social rejection in the classroom for students with ASD and for a group of mainstream students without SEN matched for IQ and age. It is hoped that identifying these behavioural characteristics will assist education professionals in identifying students with ASD who are particularly vulnerable to social rejection. A second aim is that existing social skills programmes may be adapted to promote behaviours that are shown to be associated with social acceptance and reduce behaviours associated with rejection in order to maximize inclusion in mainstream education. In line with Social Exchange Theory and results from MLD samples ADDIN EN.CITE Frederickson200422217Frederickson, N.L.Furnham, A.F.Peer-assessed behavioural characteristics and sociometric rejection: differences between pupils who have moderate learning difficulties and their mainstream peers.British Journal of Educational PsychologyBritish Journal of Educational Psychology391-410742004Nabuzoka198330303017Nabuzoka, D.Smith, P.K.Sociometric status and social behaviour of children with and without learning difficultiesJournal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry1435-1448341983( Frederickson & Furnham, 2004; Nabuzoka & Smith, 1983), we predicted that the two groups would show differential profiles of behavioural characteristics predictive of social acceptance and rejection. Social acceptance in students with ASD was expected to be predicted by lower levels of cost characteristics but not high levels of benefit characteristic. Social acceptance in mainstream students was expected to be predicted by both high level of benefit characteristics and low levels of cost characteristics. Social rejection in students with ASD was expected to be predicted by low levels of benefit characteristics, but not high levels of cost characteristics. Social rejection in mainstream students was expected to be predicted by both low levels of benefit characteristics and high levels of cost characteristics.
Method
Participants: Participants for this study were 86 students attending mainstream primary and secondary schools in the county of Buckinghamshire. Half of these, 43 students, had a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder notified to the Local Authority following the National Autism Plan for children procedures ADDIN EN.CITE (NIASA)200329NIASA, 29296National Initiative for Autism: Screening & Assessment Working Group (NIASA)National Autism Plan for Children2003LondonNational Autistic Society(NIASA, 2003) and had ASD identified as the primary need on their Statement of Educational Special Needs ADDIN EN.CITE DfES20015050506DfESSpecial educational needs Code of Practice2001LondonDfES(DfES, 2001). Recommended practice in the UK requires that a diagnosis of ASD is made by a multi-agency team following a staged assessment process. If it is suspected that the child has special educational needs, the team should notify the Local Education Authority so that it can be formally ascertained whether the needs are such that school actions can be identified to address them or whether they are severe and warrant the provision by the Local Authority of additional resources that are specified in a Statement of special educational needs. Hence the 43 children with ASD in the present study had been both identified by a multi-agency team as meeting the diagnostic criteria for ASD and showing severe impairment of functioning in the school context, requiring a Statement of special educational needs. The remaining 43 participants were typically developing students from the same schools identified by their class teacher as having equivalent academic abilities to the ASD students recruited in that class.
Of the 86 participants, 79 were male (39 with a diagnosis of ASD) and 7 participants were female (4 with a diagnosis of ASD). These participants are a subset from a larger sample recruited to look at the behavioural, cognitive and affective profiles of students with a diagnosis of ASD attending schools, including special schools, in Buckinghamshire. Inclusion in this study was dependent on social inclusion data being available. All students taking part in this study attended mainstream school and received special provision in respect of their special SEN either through a specialised ASD unit in the school (27 students) or through a classroom support assistant, advised by a visiting specialist teacher (16 students).
Participants age and IQ data are detailed in Table 1. The majority were from White English backgrounds (n = 65, 76%), 10% Indian or Pakistani, 5% White European, 2% Caribbean and 6% mixed race. The proportion from non-white minority ethnic groups is somewhat above the national average for secondary schools ADDIN EN.CITE DfES20065959596DfESEthnicity and Education. The Evidence on Minority Ethnic Pupils Aged 5-162006NottinghamDfES Publications(17%,) and primary schools (21%) (DfES, 2006) . Eligibility for free school meals was collected as an index of socioeconomic status, and 6% (n = 5) of pupils found to be eligible, somewhat lower than the percentage for secondary schools (9.6%) and primary schools (14.5%), nationally ADDIN EN.CITE Hansard20076060606HansardInformation on free school meals for maintained nursery, primary and secondary schools for January 2007: 3 Sep 2007: Column 1716W2007 http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200607/cmhansrd/cm070903/text/70903w0029.htm(DfES, 2004; Hansard, 2007).
Measures: Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence ADDIN EN.CITE Wechsler19995252526Wechsler,. DWechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence1999San Antonio, TX,The Psychological Corporation(Wechsler, 1999): To give an estimate of general cognitive ability, the short-form of the Wechsler Abbreviated Scales of Intelligence was used. Two sub-tests, Vocabulary and Matrix Reasoning, were administered. T-scores and Full-Scale IQ (FSIQ) scores are reported in Table 1.
[Table 1 Here]
The Social Inclusion Survey ADDIN EN.CITE Frederickson19995SIS`; 556Frederickson, N.Graham, B.Social Skills and Emotional Intelligence: Psychology in education portfolio1999WindsorNFER-Nelson(SIS; Frederickson & Graham, 1999): A sociometric assessment assessing how willing children are to associate with classmates at school. In this study children were asked to indicate how much they like to work with each classmate at school. The measure uses a forced-choice format in which children are presented with a list of classmates names in the order they appear in the class register. Opposite each name are four response options: a question mark (to indicate any classmates they did not know well enough to decide how much they like to work with them); a smiling face (would be happy to work with); a neutral schematic face (dont mind whether they work with or not); and a sad face (rather not work with). For each participant an index of acceptance was calculated by dividing the number of smiling faces received by the total number of ratings in categories other than dont know. An index of rejection was calculated similarly using the number of sad faces received. Test-retest reliabilities for acceptance and rejection have been reported at .70 to .78 over a 5-week period (Frederickson & Furnham, 1998a).
Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire ADDIN EN.CITE Goodman19976SDQ`; 6617Goodman, R.The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire: A research noteJournal of Child Psychology and PsychiatryJournal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry581-586381997(SDQ; Goodman, 1997): A widely used and well-validated measure of adjustment and psychopathology in children. This study used the 25-item Teacher and Parent rated versions which both have five subscales: Prosocial behaviour, Conduct Problems, Hyperactivity, Emotional Problems, and Peer Problems. Internal consistencies in this study were comparable to those reported by Goodman ADDIN EN.CITE Goodman200177717Goodman, R.Psychometric properties of the Strengths and Difficulties QuestionnaireJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent PsychiatryJournal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry1337-1345402001(2001) r a n g i n g b e t w e e n = . 6 4 - . 8 3 f o r p a r e n t s a n d = . 6 6 - . 8 6 f o r t e a c h e r s ( G o o d m a n , 2 0 0 1 : = . 5 7 - . 7 7 f o r p a r e n t s a n d = . 7 0 - . 8 8 f o r t e a c h e r s ) .
G u e s s W h o S o c i a l B e h a v i o u r &