Abstract:

The objective of this paper is to reveal the peer relationships of children with an autism spectrum disorder within a formal group of their peers without disabilities, i.e. in a common primary school class, which, during the compulsory education, constitutes a place where students spend a major part of their day. The specific position of students with the autistic spectrum disorder in a peer group shows their social interactions, content and discontent in relations.

This article presents results of the research executed in mainstream schools in Moravian-Silesian Region. This area was examined to find a position of the student with the autistic spectrum disorder in their class, as well as to show how the students’ disorder affects their social status and their schoolmates’ attitude towards autistic students.

The main research method used for the analysis of the peer relationship was a standard sociometric-rating questionnaire (SO-RA-D). Two indexes were used to evaluate the position of examined students: index of influence, i.e. measure of students’ participation on class activities, and index of individual sympathy, i.e. measure of acceptance of the autistic student. The sociometric questionnaire contained qualitative elements (an option to comment the choice). Used complementary techniques were: semi-structured interviews with autistic students and their teachers, unstructured interviews with parents of autistic students, and observations during interviews and investigation (notes about environment, situation, behaviour).

The research was carried out at five elementary schools in Moravian-Silesian Region in the Czech Republic. This article contains partial results at the end of the school year 2018/2019. The total number of participants was 113 students, including 7 autistic students.

The article presents remarkable results of analysis which clarify peer to peer relations between students with the autistic spectrum disorder and their intact peers in common elementary schools. During a school year, the school is a place where students spend major part of their time.
The research results shows that the position of students with autism within a group of peers is likely to be influenced by many individual factors (e.g. the student’s personality and deficiencies in the student’s social behaviour) as well as social factors (such as structure and attitude of the class and the teacher’s role) which the survey did not monitor. The following variables were monitored within the sociometric survey: the size of the class, gender and age of the classmates, and the associated difficult behaviour.

The survey showed that autistic students are found in the lower half of influence and liking rank in the class. They are predominantly students who joined the class later and/or who differ from other classmates in some way. The children most frequently labelled as negative inappropriate, unusual, disruptive or aggressive behaviour, which is corresponding with a number of research studies with conclusion showing that students with motor and/or mental impairment have less problems in their social interaction with other classmates than students with behavioural disability or autism.

Keywords:

Autism spectrum disorder, Asperger syndrome, elementary school, education, teacher, sociometry, class climate, group, social status.