Associations Between Observed Child Communication and Teacher Structure In Inclusive Preschool Classrooms for Children With and Without Autism Open Access

Abstract

Intervention research for young children diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has focused on developing strategies to improve deficits in social-emotional reciprocity, which includes children’s initiations of communication. This study aims to understand the relationship between preschoolers initiating communication and how teachers support the structure of the interactions in inclusive, preschool classrooms. This was done by coding segments of 5-minute videos of “center time” activities collected across 5 days, scheduled about one week apart. Participants included 42 children, 20 with ASD and 22 without ASD, ranging from 24-62 months of age. We hypothesized that Initiating Communication is strongly related to Teacher Structure, ASD diagnosis, and level of social impairment. Results revealed that observational measures of Initiating Communication were not significantly associated with Teacher Structure, ASD diagnosis, or social impairment. Exploratory analyses showed that the association between Initiating Communication and Teacher Structure may be stronger at the level of individual days than averages across days. This shows that communication in the classroom varies for all children, regardless of diagnosis or social impairment, and that there could be other factors that influence children’s communication other than Teacher Structure. This is important because it questions previous assumptions of children’s ability based on ASD diagnosis or level of social impairment. Future directions include coding Initiating Communication for a longer period of time, integrating automated measures to track communication in the classroom, and widening the research sample to classrooms in community settings.

Table of Contents

Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………….8

Methods………………………………………………………………….……………………….11

           Setting………………………………………………………………….………………...11

           Participants………………………………………………………………….……………11

           Procedure………………………………………………………………….……………..12

           Measures………………………………………………………………….……………...13

           Analysis………………………………………………………………….…………….....16

Results……………………………………………………………………………………………17

Discussion………………………………………………………………………………………..19

References………………………………………………………………………………………..25

Tables……………………………………………………………………………………………..30

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Psychology
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Education, Early Childhood Psychology, Developmental Education, Educational Psychology
Keyword	Active Engagement Inclusive Classroom Communication Autism
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Michael Siller, Emory University Dr. Aubrey Kelly, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Eric Nelson, Emory University Dr. Ann Abramowitz, Emory University Dr. Elizabeth Kim, Emory University

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