The purposes of this paper are two-fold. First, the initial introduction of a child with autism to typically developing peers is conceptualized as a process of persuasive communication. Second, relevant literature is organized and reviewed according to important components and processes involved in persuasive communication, including effects of source, message, receiver, and channel. Research about perceptions of children with autism is highlighted when available. When findings for autism were unavailable, literature on children’s perceptions of peers with physical and medical disabilities is reviewed as well as perceptions of adults with severe mental illness. From the perspective of persuasion theory, limitations of the literature and future research questions are identified that are relevant to introducing children with autism to peers for the first time.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Alderfer, M. A., Wiebe, D. J., and Hartmann, D. P. (2001). Social behaviour and illness information interact to influence the peer acceptance of children with chronic illness. Br. J. Health Psychol. 6: 243–255.
Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice, Addison-Wesley, Cambridge, MA.
Azjen, I. (2001). Nature and operation of attitudes. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 52: 27–58.
Bandura, A. (1977). Self-efficacy: Toward a unifying theory of behavioral change. Psychol. Rev. 84: 191–215.
Bak, J. J., and Siperstein, G. N. (1987). Similarity as a factor effecting change in children’s attitudes toward mentally retarded peers. Am. J. Ment. Defic. 91: 524–531.
Barker, G. P., and Graham, S. (1987). Developmental study of praise and blame as attributional cues. J. Educ. Psychol. 79: 62–66.
Bell, S. K., and Morgan, S. B. (2000). Children’s attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a peer presented as obese: Does a medical explanation for the obesity make a difference? J. Pediatr. Psychol. 25: 137–145.
Burack, J. A., Root, R., and Zigler, E. (1997). Inclusive education for students with autism: Reviewing ideological, empirical, and community considerations. In Cohen, D. J., and Volkmar, F. R. (eds.), Handbook of Autism and Pervasive Developmental Disorders (2nd ed.), Wiley and Sons, New York, pp. 796–807.
Burgoon, J. K., Dunbar, N. E., and Segrin, C. (2002). Nonverbal influence. In Dillard, J. P., and Pfau, M. (eds.), The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 445–473.
Campbell, J. M., Ferguson, J. E., Herzinger, C. V., Jackson, J. N., and Marino, C. A. (2005). Peers’ attitudes toward autism differ across sociometric groups: An exploratory investigation. J. Dev. Phys. Disabil. 17: 283–300.
Campbell, J. M., Ferguson, J. E., Herzinger, C. V., Jackson, J. N., and Marino, C. A. (2004). Combined descriptive and explanatory information improves peers’ perceptions of autism. Res. Dev. Disabil. 25: 321–339.
Clunies-Ross, G., and O’Meara, K. (1989). Changing the attitudes of students towards peers with disabilities. Australian Psychol. 24: 273–284.
Corrigan, P. W. (2000). Mental health stigma as social attribution: Implications for research methods and attitude change. Clinical Psychol.: Science and Practice 7: 48–67.
Corrigan, P. W., Edwards, A. B., Green, A., Diwan, S. L., and Penn, D. L. (2001a). Prejudice, social distance, and familiarity with mental illness. Schizophr. Bull. 27: 219–225.
Corrigan, P. W., and Penn, D. L. (1999). Lessons from social psychology on discrediting psychiatric stigma. Am. Psychol. 54: 765–776.
Corrigan, P. W., River, L. P., Lundin, R. K., Penn, D. L., Uphoff-Wasowski, K., Campion, J., Mathisen, J., Gagnon, C., Bergman, M., Goldstein, H., and Kubiak, M. A. (2001b). Three strategies for changing attributions about severe mental illness. Schizophr. Bull. 27: 187–195.
Feldman, R. H. L. (1984). The influence of communicator characteristics on the nutrition attitudes and behavior of high school students. J. Sch. Health 54: 149–151.
Ferguson, J. E., and Campbell, J. M. (2004). Information source affects peers’ initial attitudes toward autism. Manuscript submitted for publication.
Friedrich, S., Morgan, S. B., and Devine, C. (1996). Children’s attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a peer with Tourette’s syndrome. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 21: 307–319.
Furnham, A., and Buck, C. (2003). A comparison of lay-beliefs about autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Int. J. Soc. Psychiatry 49: 287–307.
Gordon, P. A., Feldman, D., Tantillo, J. C., and Perrone, K. (2004). Attitudes regarding interpersonal relationships with persons with mental illness and mental retardation. J. Rehabil. 70: 50–56.
Gottlieb, J., and Gottlieb, B. W. (1977). Stereotypic attitudes and behavioral intentions toward handicapped children. Am. J. Ment. Defic. 82: 65–71.
Grandin, T. (1986). Emergence: Labeled Autistic, Arena Press, Novato, CA.
Gray, D. E. (1993). Perceptions of stigma: The parents of autistic children. Sociol. Health Illn. 15: 102–120.
Gray, D. E. (2002). “Everybody just freezes. Everybody is just embarrassed”: Felt and enacted stigma among parents of children with high functioning autism. Sociol. Health Illn. 24: 734–749.
Gray, C. C., and Rodrigue, J. R. (2001). Brief report: Perceptions of young adolescents about a hypothetical new peer with cancer: An analog study. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 26: 247–252.
Harrower, J. K., and Dunlap, G. (2001). Including children with autism in general education classrooms: A review of effective strategies. Behav. Modif. 25: 762–784.
Heider, F. (1958). The Psychology of Interpersonal Relations, Erlbaum, Hillsdale, NJ.
Indiana Resource Center for Autism and WTIU, Indiana University Public Television (Producer) (1991). Autism: Being friends [Videotape]. (Available from the Indiana Institute on Disability and Community, 2853 East 10th Street, Bloomington, IN 47408-2696. http://www.iidc.indiana.edu/cedir/autism.html#video.).
Juvonen, J. (1992). Negative peer reactions from the perspective of the reactor. J. Educ. Psychol. 84: 314–321.
Kennedy, T., Regehr, G., Rosenfield, J., Roberts, S. W., and Lingard, L. (2004). Exploring the gap between knowledge and behavior: A qualitative study of clinician action following an educational intervention. Acad. Med. 79: 386–393.
Kolodziej, M. E., and Johnson, B. T. (1996). Interpersonal contact and acceptance of persons with psychiatric disorders: A research synthesis. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 64: 1387–1396.
Lisser, M., and Westbay, J. (2001). Making friends with aliens: Inclusion and collaborative autobiography. In Andron, L. (ed.), Our Journey through High Functioning Autism and Asperger Syndrome: A Roadmap, Jessica Kingsley Publishers, Philadelphia, PA, pp. 133–175.
Magiati, E., Dockrell, J. E., and Logotheti, A. (2002). Young children’s understanding of disabilities: The influence of development, context, and cognition. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 23: 409–430.
McHale, S. M., and Simeonsson, R. J. (1980). Effects of interaction on nonhandicapped children’s attitudes toward autistic children. Am. J. Ment. Defic. 85: 18–24.
Mesibov, G., and Shea, V. (1996). Full inclusion and students with autism. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 26: 337–346.
Mesibov, G. B., Shea, V., and Adams, L. W. (2001). Understanding Asperger Syndrome and High Functioning Autism, Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, New York.
Nabors, L. A., and Larson, E. R. (2002). The effects of brief interventions on children’s playmate preferences for a child sitting in a wheelchair. J. Dev. Phys. Disabil. 14: 403–413.
Nangle, D. W., and Foster, S. L. (1992). The effects of a positive behavioral context on the social impact of aggressive behavior. J. Abnorm. Child Psychol. 20: 543–553.
Nowicki, E. A., and Sandieson, R. (2002). A meta-analysis of school-age children’s attitudes towards persons with physical or intellectual disabilities. Int. J. Disabil. Dev. Educ. 49: 243–265.
Ochs, E., Kremer-Sadlik, T., Solomon, O., and Sirota, K. G. (2001). Inclusion as social practice: Views of children with autism. Soc. Dev. 10: 399–419.
Ozonoff, S., Dawson, G., and McPartland, J. (2002). A Parent’s Guide to Asperger Syndrome and High-Functioning Autism: How to Meet the Challenges and Help your Child Thrive, The Guilford Press, New York.
Pornpitakpan, C. (2004). The persuasiveness of source credibility: A critical review of five decades’ evidence. J. Appl. Soc. Psychol. 34: 243–281.
Potter, P. C., and Roberts, M. C. (1984). Children’s perceptions of chronic illness: The roles of disease symptoms, cognitive development, and information. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 9: 13–27.
Reinke, R. R., Corrigan, P. W., Leonhard, C., Lundin, R. K., and Kubiak, M. A. (2004). Examining two aspects of contact on the stigma of mental illness. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 23: 377–389.
Rhoads, K. V. L., and Cialdini, R. B. (2003). The business of influence: Principles that lead to success in commercial settings. In Dillard, J. P., and Pfau, M. (eds.), The Persuasion Handbook: Developments in Theory and Practice, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp. 513–542.
Rosenbaum, P. L., Armstrong, R. W., and King, S. M. (1986a). Children’s attitudes toward disabled peers: A self-report measure. J. Pediatr. Psychol. 11: 517–530.
Rosenbaum, P. L., Armstrong, R. W., and King, S. M. (1986b). Improving attitudes toward the disabled: A randomized controlled trial of direct contact versus Kids-on-the-Block. J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr. 8: 302–307.
Rosenbaum, P. L., Armstrong, R. W., and King, S. M. (1987). Parental attitudes toward children with handicaps: New perspectives with a new measure. J. Dev. Behav. Pediatr. 8: 327–334.
Rosenbaum, P. L., Armstrong, R. W., and King, S. M. (1988). Determinants of children’s attitudes toward disability: A review of evidence. Child. Health Care 17: 32–39.
Ryan, K. M. (1981). Developmental differences in reactions to the physically disabled. Hum. Dev. 24: 240–256.
Sasso, G. A., and Rude, H. A. (1987). Unprogrammed effects of training high-status peers to interact with severely handicapped children. J. Appl. Behav. Anal. 20: 35–44.
Schumacher, M., Corrigan, P. W., and DeJong, T. (2003). Examining cues that signal mental illness stigma. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 22: 467–476.
Sigelman, C. K. (1991). The effect of causal information on peer perceptions of children with physical problems. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 12: 237–253.
Siperstein, G. N., and Bak, J. (1977). Instruments to measure children’s attitudes toward the handicapped: Adjective Checklist and Activity Preference List. Unpublished manuscript, University of Massachusetts, Boston.
Siperstein, G. N., and Bak, J. J. (1985). Effects of social behavior on children’s attitudes toward their mildly and moderately mentally retarded peers. Am. J. Ment. Retard. 90: 319–327.
Slininger, D., Sherrill, C., and Jankowski, C. M. (2000). Children’s attitudes toward peers with severe disabilities: Revisiting contact theory. Adapt. Phys. Act. Q. 17: 176–196.
Smith, L. A., and Williams, J. M. (2004). Children’s understanding of the causal origins of disability. J. Cogn. Dev. 5: 383–397.
Swaim, K. F., and Morgan, S. B. (2001). Children’s attitudes and behavioral intentions toward a peer with autistic behaviors: Does a brief educational intervention have an effect? J. Autism Dev. Disord. 31: 195–205.
Taylor, S. E., Peplau, L. A., and Sears, D. O. (2003). Social Psychology (11th edition), Upper Saddle River, Prentice Hall, NJ.
Tirosh, E., Schanin, M., and Reiter, S. (1997). Children’s attitudes toward peers with disabilities: The Israeli perspective. Dev. Med. Child Neurol. 39: 811–814.
Triandis, H. C. (1971). Attitude and Attitude Change, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York.
Tripp, A., French, R., and Sherrill, C. (1995). Contact theory and attitudes of children in physical education programs toward peers with disabilities. Adapt. Phys. Act. Q. 12: 323–332.
Volkmar, F. (2001). Editorial preface. J. Autism Dev. Disord. 31: 117–118.
Weiner, B. (1980). A cognitive (attribution)-emotion-action model of motivation behavior: An analysis of judgments of help-giving. J. Pers. Soc. Psychol. 39: 186–200.
Weiner, B. (1993). On sin versus sickness: A theory of perceived responsibility and social motivation. Am. Psychol. 48: 957–965.
White, K. J., Jones, K., and Sherman, M. D. (1998). Reputation information and teacher feedback: Their influences on children’s perceptions of behavior problem peers. J. Soc. Clin. Psychol. 17: 11–37.
Woods, D. W., Fuqua, R. W., and Outman, R. C. (1999). Evaluating the social acceptability of persons with habit disorders: The effects of topography, frequency, and gender manipulation. J. Psychopathol. Behav. Assess. 21: 1–18.
Yuker, H. E. (1994). Variables that influence attitudes toward people with disabilities. J. Soc. Behav. Pers. 9(5): 3–22.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Preparation of this article was supported in part by a research grant from the Organization for Autism Research Foundation awarded to the author.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Campbell, J.M. Changing Children’s Attitudes Toward Autism: A Process of Persuasive Communication. J Dev Phys Disabil 18, 251–272 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-006-9015-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10882-006-9015-7