TY - JOUR
T1 - It Takes a Community
T2 - How Environmental Systems Construct (In)Competence in Autistic Peer Interactions
AU - Vidal, Veronica G.
AU - Wachholtz, Daniela P.
AU - Mattie, Laura J.
AU - Dethorne, Laura S.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - Purpose: This study aims to illustrate how environmental systems shape the peer interactions of an autistic student within the classroom. Method: Drawing on the bioecological model of human development, this situated discourse analysis used thematic coding and microanalysis to examine data from semistructured interviews and 10 sessions of direct classroom observations of a 9-year-old autistic student and his classroom communication partners. Results: Convergent data across participants, time, and data sources revealed the following systemic influences on peer interaction: predominant medicalized view of autism (macrosystem), educational practices (exosystem), misaligned roles across adults and peers in the classroom (mesosystem), and multimodal opportunities for direct interaction that were supported by objects and physical contact and inhibited by rapid pacing (microsystem). Conclusions: Findings illustrate the environmental complexities associated with the development of peer interactions for autistic students. We offer explicit clinical implications for how environmental factors can be addressed in the school-based eligibility determination process and in the Individualized Education Program.
AB - Purpose: This study aims to illustrate how environmental systems shape the peer interactions of an autistic student within the classroom. Method: Drawing on the bioecological model of human development, this situated discourse analysis used thematic coding and microanalysis to examine data from semistructured interviews and 10 sessions of direct classroom observations of a 9-year-old autistic student and his classroom communication partners. Results: Convergent data across participants, time, and data sources revealed the following systemic influences on peer interaction: predominant medicalized view of autism (macrosystem), educational practices (exosystem), misaligned roles across adults and peers in the classroom (mesosystem), and multimodal opportunities for direct interaction that were supported by objects and physical contact and inhibited by rapid pacing (microsystem). Conclusions: Findings illustrate the environmental complexities associated with the development of peer interactions for autistic students. We offer explicit clinical implications for how environmental factors can be addressed in the school-based eligibility determination process and in the Individualized Education Program.
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85146484844&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00028
DO - 10.1044/2022_LSHSS-22-00028
M3 - Article
C2 - 35985325
AN - SCOPUS:85146484844
SN - 0161-1461
VL - 54
SP - 63
EP - 81
JO - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
JF - Language, Speech, and Hearing Services in Schools
IS - 1
ER -