Friendship Networks and Social Inclusion in Young People with Autism

Background: Children with autism spectrum conditions are increasingly included in UK mainstream classrooms. Existing research indicates that friendship is a particularly significant factor in the overall experience of mainstream school for these children and yet this remains a poorly understood and under-researched area.

Objectives: This study used a unique combination of quantitative, qualitative and social network methods to examine the friendships of children with autism relative to typically developing children in mainstream primary schools. The objectives were to examine (1) the self-rated friendship quality of children with autism compared to that of their typical peers; (2) parents’ and teachers’ views of the child’s friendships and their self-perceived role in developing and maintaining children’s friendships; and (3) the extent to which children with autism were considered to be included in social networks in the classroom.

Methods: Twelve children with autism and 12 typically developing peers, of similar age, verbal ability and nonverbal ability, were assessed from culturally-diverse Year 6 mainstream classrooms. Cognitive assessments, questionnaires and semi-structured interviews were conducted with children with autism and detailed interviews were also conducted with the autistic child’s parents and primary school teacher. The perspective of classroom peers was sought through a socio-cognitive mapping exercise.

Results: Children with autism generally rated their friendships less in terms of support and closeness than matched typical peers. There was, however, much variability in autistic children‘s ratings of their friendship quality which, unexpectedly, was related neither to children’s cognitive ability nor to their theory of mind ability. Parents were found to play an active role in supporting friendship development through direct instruction for managing interactions while teachers indicated that autistic children’s friendships were given low priority in schools. Encouragingly, the children themselves generally reported satisfaction with their current friendships and, although no child with autism was found to be socially excluded, the friendship experiences of children with autism varied widely, with some children being part of dyadic reciprocal friendships, some children having links to one or two low status members of the class group, and some children centrally included within high status friendship groups within the classroom. Motivation appeared to be a key factor in accounting for these differences.

Conclusions: These findings elucidate for the first time the attitudes of autistic children, their peers, teachers and parents towards friendship in a school setting.  The results have important implications for parents, teachers, and practitioners working with children with autism educated within mainstream provision.  In particular, children‘s social motivation appears to play a crucial role in determining the extent and nature of their friendships, and children‘s reported satisfaction with their friendships could determine the level of intervention needed to support these friendships.