Student–teacher relationships of children with autism spectrum disorder: Distinct contributions of language domains

Abstract

Background and Aims-High quality student-teacher relationships (STR) are important for children's academic and social development. We explore how individual child language domains (semantics, syntax, pragmatics), teacher years of experience, and classroom placement (general or special education) relate to STR quality for children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across the school year. Methods and Procedures-191 children with ASD (M age = 5.6 years) completed a standardized language assessment and their teachers reported on STR quality twice during the school year. Outcome and Results-Pragmatics, but not semantics or syntax, had a direct effect on studentteacher closeness. The association between semantics and closeness was moderated by classroom type; for students with low semantics, teacher-reported closeness was lower in general versus special education. Teachers in special versus general education classrooms reported closer relationships. More experienced teachers reported closer and less conflictual relationships. None of the three language domains were associated with student-teacher conflict. Conclusions and Implications-Pragmatic and semantic language skills were associated with closer relationships. Language-focused therapies may be effective in carrying over to impact STR quality. Given the stability in relationship quality, targeted interventions should be delivered to teachers at the beginning of the school year to support positive relationship development.

Longitudinal associations between internalizing behaviors and social skills for autistic students during the early school years.

“…The pathways between children's internalizing symptoms and their social adjustment over time may be facilitated or disrupted by aspects of their school experience. Namely, their classroom placement (general education vs. special education) may impact these pathways, aligned with research showing that children's student-teacher relationships and peer relationships often differ between classroom types (Feldman et al, 2019). Likewise, teachers who have autism-specific training may be equipped to alter these pathways by supporting children's social and emotional well-being even in the context of early social or internalizing difficulties.…”

The development of emotion understanding in children: The importance of parents, teachers, and peers.

“…Evidently, children need an emotion-related receptive vocabulary to be able to reflect upon their own and others' emotions in a sophisticated way (Pons et al, 2006), and their expressive language skills enable them to engage in more mental state talk that further enhances their EU (Taumoepeau & Ruffman, 2008). Furthermore, LAUGEN, KÅRSTAD, REINFJELL, AND WICHSTRØM children with better language skills are also more likely to obtain skills required to develop high-quality relationships with parents, teachers, and peers (Chow et al, 2022;Davis & Qi, 2020;Feldman et al, 2019). Consequently, with verbal ability being associated with both relationship quality and the level of EU, there is a risk of spurious results reflecting verbal ability rather than relationship quality.…”

The teacher-student relationship: A comparative study of the report of students with autism spectrum disorder and typical development

“…The few existing studies that have addressed TSR in ASD students have revealed that this relationship is characterized by less closeness and more conflict compared to the relationship between teachers and students with TD (Blacher et al, 2014;Caplan et al, 2016;Feldman et al, 2019;Prino et al, 2016;Roorda et al, 2021). The more challenging relationship between teachers and students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) may stem from the students' difficulties in social interactions, such as understanding social cues, maintaining conversations (Davis & Crompton, 2021), and interpreting emotional expressions .…”

“…These contradictory results (regarding whether students with ASD report a worse or better relationship with their teachers compared to their peers with TD) could also be explained by the different reports used. Evidence that the relationship between teachers and students with ASD is characterized by less closeness and more conflict has been constructed from teacher reports, not from student reports (Blacher et al, 2014;Caplan et al, 2016;Feldman et al, 2019;Prino et al, 2016;Roorda et al, 2021). The only study that has found positive reports of TSR with ASD did so precisely from the report of students .…”

“…On the other hand, research that has studied the TSR in students with ASD has focused on preschool education and elementary education (Blacher et al, 2014;Caplan et al, 2016;Feldman et al, 2019;Prino et al, 2016). There are no studies that address the TSR with ASD in secondary education.…”