Teacher responses to anxiety-related behaviours in students on the autism spectrum

Adams, Dawn; Macdonald, Libby; Keen, Deb

doi:10.1016/j.ridd.2018.12.009

Cited by 29 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…avoiding and running away, may be misinterpreted as disruptive behaviour. Further research focussing upon anxiety, specifically within the school setting, is needed in order to support and enable teachers to feel confident in making informed decisions about what are age-appropriate or autism-related behaviours and what are normal variations of behaviour and/or mental health within the context of autism (Adams, MacDonald, & Keen, 2019;Kerns & Kendall, 2012;Wood & Gadow, 2010). This will then enable them to identify their students' signs of anxiety and consequently, implement evidence-based classroom strategies to support and/or reduce the anxiety.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent Perspectives on the Presentation, Triggers, Impact, and Support of Anxiety in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

et al. 2019

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Objectives: A high proportion of children with autism experience elevated anxiety, which is evident from an early age. Although parents provide a significant role in recognising the early signs and triggers of their child's anxiety and in prompting help-seeking, there are few studies using qualitative methods to document parent perspectives around their child's anxiety. The aim of this study is to explore parent perspectives of their child's anxiety across home and school. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents of 10 young children (5-8 years) with autism to explore their understanding of their child's presentation and triggers of anxiety across different settings (home and school) as well as the strategies and supports used to manage the anxiety in the home and school setting. Thematic analysis of the data Results: Parents reported signs of anxiety were evident in their child from a young age but recognising these signs and distinguishing anxiety from other behaviours was difficult. Triggers identified related to sensory experiences, academic expectations, social demands, and uncertainty, all of which were discussed in relation to the school context. Parents shared how supporting their child with autism is multifaceted and is related to understanding the individual child's anxiety. Conclusions: These findings highlight the heterogeneity of anxiety presentation in children with autism and the challenge in differentiating anxiety from other behaviours both in home and school settings.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Parent Perspectives on the Presentation, Triggers, Impact, and Support of Anxiety in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

et al. 2019

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“…The barrier of a lack of recognition, or belief of, the mental health challenges being experienced by individuals on the spectrum may be suggestive of diagnostic overshadowing; a phenomenon well documented in both the autism and intellectual disability (e.g., Jopp & Keys, 2001) as well as the wider literature (Shefer et al, 2014). Diagnostic overshadowing refers to the misattribution of symptoms (in this case, mental health symptoms) to another diagnosis that the person has (in this case, their autism); for example, not seeing social anxiety symptoms as they are interpreted as a consequence of a skill deficit related to the profile of autism characteristics (Adams, MacDonald, & Keen, 2019).…”

Section: Barriers To Accessing Mental Health Servicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Systematic Review of the Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Psychological Treatment for Mental Health Problems in Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

Adams

Young

2020

Rev J Autism Dev Disord

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“…While there is evidence to suggest that teachers are relatively accurate in identifying and understanding anxiety in typically developing students [Headley & Campbell, 2013], this ability may not translate to identifying anxiety in students on the spectrum due to the presence of both typical and atypical symptoms and the possibility of diagnostic overshadowing [e.g., Kerns & Kendall, 2012]. The potentially complex interaction of anxiety and autism may mean that many teachers do not feel confident in making informed decisions about what are age-appropriate or autism-related behaviors and what are normal variations of behavior and/or mental health within the context of autism [Kerns & Kendall, 2012;Wood & Gadow, 2010] and consequently respond differently to the same behavior depending on whether or not the child has a diagnosis on the spectrum [Adams, McDonald, & Keen, 2019]. It is, therefore, important that efforts are made to increase recognition of anxiety both in school and community settings as it may influence success in that setting; for example, teacher understanding of anxiety and stress has been highlighted by students on the spectrum as an important factor in their successful participation in mainstream education [Humphrey & Lewis, 2008;Saggers et al, 2016] and parents identify that teacher support of anxiety is related to their understanding of anxiety in autism [Simpson, Adams, Wheeley, & Keen, 2019].…”

Section: Recognition Of Anxiety and Access To Support Across Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Anxiety at Home, School, and in the Community Through Self‐Report From Children on the Autism Spectrum

2019

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Research investigating anxiety in children on the autism spectrum usually reports caregiver rather than self‐report perspectives. This study aimed to document children's own descriptions of their anxiety symptomatology by combining profiles on a standardized autism‐specific self‐report measure of anxiety (ASC‐ASD‐C) with the answers from closed‐ and open‐answer questions about anxiety across home, school, and community settings. Across the sample of 113 children on the spectrum aged 6–14 years, the two most frequently endorsed items on the ASC‐ASD‐C were from the Uncertainty and Performance Anxiety subscales, and the least endorsed were both from the Anxious Arousal subscale. Almost all (96.5%) of the children on the spectrum reported experiencing anxiety in at least one setting, with 40.7% reporting anxiety in all three contexts (home, school, and community). Approximately half of the sample felt their anxiety goes unrecognized by others at school and almost 60% felt it was unrecognized by others when out in the community. The proportion of children reporting having someone to help reduce their anxiety differed across home (86%), school (76%), and community (45%) settings. This highlights the importance of understanding anxiety and its impact, not only within the context of autism but also for each particular child. Autism Res 2020, 13: 603–614. © 2019 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Lay summary There has been a lot of research focusing on anxiety and autism, but most of it has used parent reports, rather than asking the child themselves. This study summarizes data from 113 children on the autism spectrum, aged 6–14 years. It reports the symptoms of anxiety that these children most and least commonly experience. The results suggest only 40–50% of children feel that others are able to recognize their anxiety at school and when out in the community, suggesting that more training is needed to help adults in these settings to recognize and support anxiety.

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Teacher responses to anxiety-related behaviours in students on the autism spectrum

Cited by 29 publications

References 48 publications

Parent Perspectives on the Presentation, Triggers, Impact, and Support of Anxiety in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

Parent Perspectives on the Presentation, Triggers, Impact, and Support of Anxiety in Young Children on the Autism Spectrum

A Systematic Review of the Perceived Barriers and Facilitators to Accessing Psychological Treatment for Mental Health Problems in Individuals on the Autism Spectrum

Exploring Anxiety at Home, School, and in the Community Through Self‐Report From Children on the Autism Spectrum

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