Surviving in the mainstream: Capacity of children with autism spectrum disorders to perform academically and regulate their emotions and behavior at school

doi:10.1016/j.rasd.2009.07.002

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Volume 4, Issue 1, January–March 2010, Pages 18-27

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rasd.2009.07.002 Get rights and content

Abstract

This study compares teachers’ perceptions of students with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) to their perceptions of typically developing students with regard to capacity to perform academically and regulate emotions and behavior in mainstream classrooms. A case-control research design was used to compare teacher ratings of academic performance and classroom emotional and behavioral regulation of 28 students with ASD (with average range IQ) and 51 age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) students drawn from the same mainstream classrooms. Teachers rated students with ASD as exhibiting behavioral and emotional difficulties (including attention difficulties, anxiety, depression, oppositional and aggressive behaviors) to a significantly higher level than their typically developing peers. Fifty-four percent of students with ASD were rated as under-achieving academically as compared to 8% of typically developing students. Students with ASD seem to be underperforming relative to their level of ability and are struggling to maintain their attention and regulate their emotions and behaviors in mainstream classrooms, despite receiving a range of specialist support services in the classroom. Consideration needs to be given to investigating alternative models of supporting these students in mainstream classrooms and assisting them to develop strategies to cope with the student role.

Section snippets

Method

A case-control research design was used to compare a group of students with ASD with age- and gender-matched typically developing (TD) students. In order to control for differences in teaching styles, classroom environments, educational programs and differences in the way that teachers rate behaviors and academic achievement, the typically developing controls were drawn from the same classrooms as the students with ASD.

Participants

All the children with ASD attended regular education classes (classes taught by teachers where the majority of students had no special needs). The students with ASD received support from special education or learning support teachers (either visiting or based at the school) and teacher aides (paraprofessionals). Speech language therapy, occupational therapy and physiotherapy services were available if requested by their classroom teachers. The intensity and nature of support varied according to

Procedure

Ethical clearance to conduct the study was obtained from The University of Queensland and Education Queensland, Australia. The teachers, students and parents provided informed written consent. The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (Gilliam, 1995) and the Gilliam Asperger's Disorder Scale (GADS) (Gilliam, 2001) were used to provide a measure of severity of autistic symptoms and verification of the condition. The Kaufman Brief Intelligence Test (K-BIT) was used to ensure that all students met the

Instrumentation

The Gilliam Autism Rating Scale (GARS) (Gilliam, 1995) is a caregiver questionnaire that determines the likelihood of individuals aged 3–22 years having autism. Oswald (1998) suggested that the GARS has quite good reliability and validity (internal consistency of each subscale ranged from .88 to .93, the inter-rater reliability correlation coefficient for the total scale was .88, test–retest reliability correlation coefficient was .88 and content validity supported by item-subscale total

Data analysis

Independent sample t-tests for equality of means were used to determine differences between the ASD and TD groups with regard to estimated intelligence, age (to ensure that the groups were well matched) and classroom emotional, behavioral and educational outcomes. A conservative alpha level of .01 was set to account for the increased risk of Type 1 error resulting from multiple comparisons using the same data set. Homogeneity of variance was not assumed because of the unequal sample sizes.

Results

No significant between-group differences were found in age (t = 0.71, p = .48, d = 62.10) or K-BIT scores (t = 0.78, p = .44, 66.72), thus confirming the matching of the two groups on these variables. The K-BIT scores ranged from 82 to 124 with a mean of 103.5 (SD = 10.24) in the ASD group and 84 to 144 with a mean of 105.76 (SD = 12.81) in the typically developing group. The mean scores, standard deviations and between-group differences on the CTRS–R:L and ASEBA:TRF are shown in Table 1, Table 2.

Discussion

The findings of this study concur with prior research suggesting that students with ASD exhibit significantly higher levels of behavioral and emotional difficulties at school than their typically developing peers in a wide range of areas including attention difficulties (e.g., hyperactivity and inattention), internalizing behaviors (e.g., anxiety, depression, withdrawal and shyness) and externalizing behaviors (e.g., oppositional and aggressive behaviors) (Barnhill et al., 2001, Eaves and Ho,

Limitations of study

The choice of assessments used in this study was limited by budgetary constraints. In particular, the use of a full scale IQ test would have been preferable to the use of an abbreviated IQ test such as the K-BIT. More valid and reliable verification of their diagnosis would have been achieved through use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (Lord et al., 2000), and Autism Diagnostic Interview-Revised (Lord, Rutter, & Le Couteur, 1994).

Recommendations for further research

Although the students with ASD in this study were supported by special education teachers and teacher aides and in some cases speech language pathologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists, it would appear that many were underperforming relative to their level of ability and were struggling to maintain their attention and regulate their emotions and behaviors in mainstream classrooms. These findings point to the need for alternative models of supporting these students in mainstream

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Surviving in the mainstream: Capacity of children with autism spectrum disorders to perform academically and regulate their emotions and behavior at school

Abstract

Section snippets

Method

Participants

Procedure

Instrumentation

Data analysis

Results

Discussion

Limitations of study

Recommendations for further research

Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders

Manual for the ASEBA school-aged forms and profiles

Transition to middle and high school: Increasing the success of students with Asperger syndrome

Intervention in School and Clinic

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR

Sensory processing and classroom emotional, behavioral and educational outcomes in children with autism spectrum disorder

American Journal of Occupational Therapy

The complete guide to Asperger's syndrome

Australian census of population and housing

Autism in schools: Crisis or challenge

Inclusion and autism: Is it working?

Parent, teacher and self-report of problem and adaptive behaviors in children and adolescents with Asperger's Syndrome

Diagnostique

The social, behavioral and academic experiences of children with Asperger syndrome

Focus on Autism and Other Developmental Disabilities

Conners’ Rating Scale Manual

Conners’ Rating Scale Manual

The School Function Assessment

School placement and academic achievement in children with autistic spectrum disorders

Journal of Developmental and Physical Disabilities

Comparison of DSM-IV symptoms in elementary school-aged children with PDD versus clinic and community samples

Autism

Comorbidity of Asperger Syndrome: A preliminary report

Journal of Intellectual Disability Research

Autism and Asperger Syndrome: Coexistence with other clinical disorders

Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica

Gilliam Autism Rating Scale