Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...
Education and Training in Developmental Disabilities - Division on ...
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other disabilities <strong>on</strong> each of the three social<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>tegrati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>structs.<br />
The social <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>tegrati<strong>on</strong> c<strong>on</strong>structs exam<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ed<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> this study were: social preference (acceptance<br />
or popularity), social impact (visibility),<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> social network affiliati<strong>on</strong> (membership <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
a peer group). Scores of students with autism<br />
<strong>on</strong> each of these three c<strong>on</strong>structs were analyzed<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> terms of differences from students<br />
without disabilities <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> the classes.<br />
Social Preference<br />
It appears that students with autism <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>clusive<br />
classrooms are as likely as their peers to be<br />
chosen for an activity such as play<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g at recess,<br />
attend<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g a birthday party, or work<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g <strong>on</strong> a<br />
class project. Although this is c<strong>on</strong>trary to a<br />
large body of research suggest<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g that students<br />
with disabilities are more likely to have<br />
low social preference scores than their peers<br />
without disabilities (Sabornie et al., 1990; Sabornie<br />
& Kauffman, 1985, 1987; Sabornie et al.,<br />
1987-1988; St<strong>on</strong>e & La Greca, 1990), <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>terpretati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
must be made with cauti<strong>on</strong>. The small<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> relatively uniform sample size makes generalizati<strong>on</strong><br />
of f<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs to students of differ<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g<br />
age, gender, regi<strong>on</strong>, or race limited. However,<br />
f<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs do suggest that future research is<br />
needed to further determ<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>e the nature of<br />
social preference for children with autism <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>clusi<strong>on</strong> sett<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs.<br />
Social Impact<br />
In terms of social impact, students with autism<br />
were neither more nor less visible than their<br />
peers without disabilities. This may suggest<br />
that students with autism <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>clusive classrooms<br />
have the same amount of visibility as<br />
their peers without disabilities. These f<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs<br />
are similar to those of previous researchers<br />
(Farmer, 1994; Farmer & Farmer, 1996).<br />
Social Network Affiliati<strong>on</strong><br />
No differences were found between students<br />
with autism <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> students without disabilities<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> terms of social network affiliati<strong>on</strong>. That is,<br />
students with autism were c<strong>on</strong>sidered to be<br />
members of a very def<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ite group, as often as<br />
students without disabilities. This <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>formati<strong>on</strong><br />
supports the prevail<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g belief am<strong>on</strong>g some<br />
advocates of full <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>clusi<strong>on</strong> that <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>clusi<strong>on</strong> will<br />
assist students with disabilities <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> hav<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g a circle<br />
of friends (Sta<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>back & Sta<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>back, 1992).<br />
It should aga<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> be noted that the limited sample<br />
size <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> this study requires <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>terpretati<strong>on</strong><br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> generalizati<strong>on</strong> with cauti<strong>on</strong>. However, results<br />
were not as expected, as previous studies<br />
<strong>on</strong> social network affiliati<strong>on</strong> seemed to <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>dicate<br />
that the likelihood of social networks for<br />
these students was limited. Thus, further studies<br />
are needed to gather more <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>formati<strong>on</strong> <strong>on</strong><br />
the accuracy of this phenomen<strong>on</strong>.<br />
The sec<strong>on</strong>d purpose of the study was to<br />
identify whether severity of autism characteristics<br />
(communicati<strong>on</strong>, stereotypic behavior,<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> social relatedness) impacted social preference,<br />
social impact, or social network affiliati<strong>on</strong><br />
of these students. N<strong>on</strong>e of the autism<br />
symptoms had an effect <strong>on</strong> the social <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>tegrati<strong>on</strong><br />
c<strong>on</strong>structs. Based <strong>on</strong> these f<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs, it<br />
appears that no particular symptom of autism<br />
outweighs the other with regard to <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>fluence<br />
<strong>on</strong> social preference, social impact, or social<br />
network affiliati<strong>on</strong>. This is surpris<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> light<br />
of previous work suggest<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g that <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>appropriate<br />
or odd behaviors <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> limited social skills<br />
negatively impact social <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>tegrati<strong>on</strong> (Asher &<br />
Coie, 1990).<br />
Post Hoc Statistics<br />
Previous studies have found differences between<br />
disability type <strong>on</strong> social preference <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g><br />
social impact (Bender et al., 1984; Sabornie &<br />
Kauffman, 1985, 1986, 1987; Sabornie et al.,<br />
1987-88), an area at first not exam<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ed <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> the<br />
current study. However, no significant differences<br />
between groups were found, suggest<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g<br />
that all students, regardless of disability or<br />
disability type, were as well accepted (social<br />
preference), as visible (social impact), <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> as<br />
likely to be a member of a peer group (social<br />
network affiliati<strong>on</strong>). This is <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> c<strong>on</strong>trast to the<br />
previous studies, <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> warrants further study.<br />
Observati<strong>on</strong>al F<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs<br />
20 / <str<strong>on</strong>g>Educati<strong>on</strong></str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Tra<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g><str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Developmental</str<strong>on</strong>g> <str<strong>on</strong>g>Disabilities</str<strong>on</strong>g>-March 2005<br />
In additi<strong>on</strong> to runn<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g statistics post hoc for<br />
enrich<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g f<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>d<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>gs, the researcher made some<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>terest<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g observati<strong>on</strong>s from the raw data.<br />
First, from a descriptive st<str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g>po<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>t regard<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g<br />
social preference <str<strong>on</strong>g>and</str<strong>on</strong>g> impact, students with<br />
autism received positive votes by their peers<br />
when it came to play<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g at recess or be<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>g<br />
<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>vited to a birthday party. Exam<str<strong>on</strong>g>in</str<strong>on</strong>g>ati<strong>on</strong> of the