Drye Madison, Banarjee Chitra, Perry Lynn, Viggiano Alyssa, Irvin Dwight, Messinger Daniel
Department of Psychology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
College of Medicine, University of Central Florida, Orlando, Florida, USA.
Autism Res. 2025 Jan;18(1):179-194. doi: 10.1002/aur.3276. Epub 2024 Dec 3.
In inclusive preschools, children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and other developmental disabilities (DD) are less socially engaged with peers than are typically developing (TD) children. However, there is limited objective information describing how children with ASD engage with teachers, or how teacher engagement compares to engagement with peers. We tracked over 750 hours' worth of children's (N = 77; N = 24, N = 23, N = 30; M = 43.98 months) and teachers' (N = 12) locations and orientations across eight inclusion preschool classrooms to quantify child-teacher and child-peer social preference. Social approach velocity and time in social contact were computed for each child and compared across social partners to index children's preference for teachers over peers. Children with ASD approached teachers--but not peers-more quickly than children with TD, and children with ASD were approached more quickly by teachers and more slowly by peers than children with TD. Children with ASD spent less time in social contact with peers and did not differ from children with TD in their time in social contact with teachers. Overall, children with ASD showed a greater preference for approaching, being approached by, and being in social contact with teachers (relative to peers) than children with TD. No significant differences emerged between children with DD and children with TD. In conclusion, children with ASD exhibited a stronger preference for engaging with teachers over peers, re-emphasizing the need for classroom-based interventions that support the peer interactions of children with ASD.
在融合性幼儿园中，患有自闭症谱系障碍（ASD）和其他发育障碍（DD）的儿童与同龄人相比，社交互动较少。然而，关于患有ASD的儿童如何与教师互动，以及教师互动与同龄人互动相比情况如何的客观信息有限。我们在八个融合性幼儿园教室中追踪了超过750小时儿童（N = 77；N = 24、N = 23、N = 30；平均年龄43.98个月）和教师（N = 12）的位置和方向，以量化儿童与教师以及儿童与同龄人的社交偏好。计算每个孩子的社交接近速度和社交接触时间，并在不同社交伙伴之间进行比较，以衡量孩子对教师而非同龄人的偏好。与发育正常（TD）的儿童相比，患有ASD的儿童接近教师的速度更快，但接近同龄人的速度并非如此；与TD儿童相比，教师接近患有ASD儿童的速度更快，而同龄人接近他们的速度更慢。患有ASD的儿童与同龄人进行社交接触的时间较少，在与教师的社交接触时间上与TD儿童没有差异。总体而言，与TD儿童相比，患有ASD的儿童在接近教师、被教师接近以及与教师进行社交接触（相对于同龄人）方面表现出更大的偏好。患有DD的儿童与TD儿童之间没有显著差异。总之，患有ASD的儿童对与教师互动的偏好强于同龄人，再次强调了需要开展基于课堂的干预措施来支持患有ASD儿童的同伴互动。
