The Role of Social Language in the Student Teacher Relationship

Background: Little is known regarding the factors that affect student-teacher relationship (STR) quality in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). However, positive STRs have been demonstrated to be important predictors of social, academic and behavioral outcomes in typical-developing populations (Hamre & Pianta, 2001). Few studies have examined STRs among children with ASD; two such studies have found that STR quality is predicted by behavioral difficulties (Brown & McIntosh, 2012; Robertson, Chamberlain, & Kasari, 2003). However, no known studies have examined the association between social communication and STR quality among children with ASD, despite the fact that social communication deficits are core symptoms of ASD. The current study is aimed at examining how aspects of social communication, specifically language factors, predict STR quality among young children with ASD during the early school years. Understanding the impact of social language factors on STR quality for children with ASD is imperative given the demonstrated importance of STRs in terms of future social, academic, and behavioral success.

Objectives: 1. Identify associations between global and social language factors and STR quality among children with ASD during the early school years. 2. Examine how teacher and classroom factors (professional training, type of classroom) moderate the association between language and STR quality.

Methods: Participants were evaluated three times across 1.5 years as part of a longitudinal, multi-method study of the adaptation to school among children with ASD. The current sample includes 123 participants who were entering pre-K, kindergarten, or first grade at the time of enrollment; all had confirmed ASD diagnoses according to the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) and clinical impression.  Ninety percent of participants were receiving special education services in school.  Enrollment is ongoing; approximately 60 additional participants will be added by April of 2014. Language was assessed with performance-based (ADOS and Comprehensive Assessment of Spoken Language; CASL) and parent-reported (Children’s Communication Checklist; CCC-2) measures; STR quality was evaluated with the teacher-reported Student-Teacher Relationship Scale.

Results: Missingness will be addressed using full information maximum likelihood. Subscales related to global language competencies [syntax: F(1,94)=9.79, p<.01, R²=.09, basic concepts: F(82,1)=9.17, p<.01, R²=.10] ], as well as, social language factors [pragmatic language: F(1,93)=11.76, p<.01, R²=.11], significantly predicted overall STR quality. ADOS item-level scores of immediate echolalia [F(1,94)=5.74, p=.02, R²=.06] and conversational skills [F(1,93)=5.54, p=.02, R²=.06] also predicted STR quality. No significant relationships were observed between remaining ADOS communication items nor CCC-2 subscales and overall STR. Subsequent analyses will examine potential moderating effects of teacher and classroom factors.

Conclusions: Significant associations were observed between language skills and STR quality among young children with ASD; our findings suggest that, in addition to overall spoken language skills, children’s pragmatic language abilities as well as their ASD-specific speech patterns (echolalia) were important to their STRs. Given the documented importance of the STR on children’s long-term academic, social, and behavioral trajectories, such research may aid in identifying predictors of STR that may be specific to ASD and may inform interventions aimed at improved academic outcomes.